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YALE   STUDIES   IN   ENGLISH 
ALBERT   S.    COOK,  Editor 

XV 

ESSAYS  ON  THE  STUDY  AND  USE 
OF  POETRY 

BY 

PLUTARCH  AND  BASIL  THE  GREAT 

TRANSLATED   FROM   THE   GREEK   WITH   AN   INTRODUCTION 


BY 

FREDERICK    MORGAN    PADELFORD,  Ph.D. 

Professor  of  the  English  Language  and  Literature  in  the 
University  of  Washington 


NEW   YORK 

HENRY    HOLT   AND   COMPANY 

1902 


YALE   STUDIES   IN   ENGLISH 
ALBERT   S.   COOK,  Editor 

XV 

ESSAYS  ON  THE  STUDY  AND  USE 
OF  POETRY 

BY 

PLUTARCH  AND  BASIL  THE  GREAT 

TRANSLATED    FROM   THE    GREEK    WITH   AN   INTRODUCTION 
BY 

FREDERICK    MORGAN    PADELFORD,  Ph.D. 

Professor  of  the  English  Language  and  Literature  in  the 
University  of  Washington 


NEW   YORK 

HENRY   HOLT   AND   COMPANY 

1902 


Copyright,  1902, 

by 

Frederick  Morgan  Padelford,  Ph.D. 


TO 
GEORGE  DANA  BOARDMAN  PEPPER 

AND 

ADONIRAM  JUDSON  PADELFORD 


iSJ^lSb 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


Preface,        ...... 

Introduction,  ..... 

Plutarch's  Theory  of  Poetry,    . 

The  Life  of  St.  Basil  and  the  Address  to  Young  Men 
How  A  Young  Man  Should  Study  Poetry,     . 

Outline,  ..... 

Translation,        ..... 
Address  to  Young  Men  on  the  Right  Use  of  Greek  Litera 
ture,    ...... 

Outline,  ...... 

Translation,         ..... 

Appendix,      ...... 

Index,  ...... 


Page 

7 

II 

13 
33 
45 
47 
49 

97 
99 

lOI 

121 
125 


PREFACE 

The  recent  very  general  interest  in  poetics  has  led  me  to 
prepare  these  translations  of  the  essays  on  poetry  by  Plu- 
tarch and  Basil  the  Great,  in  the  hope  that  they  may  prove 
useful  to  students  of  literature.  Although  they  were  not 
epoch-making,  these  essays  are  worthy  of  consideration,  for, 
besides  their  intrinsic  value,  they  mark  interesting  stages  in 
the  history  of  poetic  criticism. 

The  essay  on  How  a  Young  Man  Ought  to  Study  Poetry 
was  first  rendered  into  English  by  Philemon  Holland,  who 
made  a  complete  translation  of  the  Morals,  which  was  issued 
in  octavo  from  the  press  of  Arnold  Hatfield,  a  London 
printer,  in  1603.  Its  title  reads  as  follows:  'The  Philoso- 
phic, commonlie  called  The  Morals,  written  by  the  learned 
Philosopher  Plutarch  of  Chaeronea.  Translated  out  of 
Greek  into  English,  and  conferred  with  the  Latin  translations 
and  the  French,  by  Philemon  Holland  of  Coventrie,  Doctor 
in  Physicke.  Whereunto  are  annexed  the  Summaries  neces- 
sary to  be  read  before  every  Treatise.'  This  version,  though 
its  archaism  possesses  an  undeniable  charm,  is  not  alto- 
gether adapted  to  modern  requirements.  A  second  edition, 
*newly  revised  and  corrected,'  appeared  in  1657,  and  this 
was  followed  not  many  years  later  by  the  translation  of  the 
Morals  'by  Several  Hands,'  published  in  London  in  1684- 
1694.  To  this  work  Simon  Ford  contributed  the  version  of 
the  essay  on  How  a  Young  Man  Ought  to  Study  Poetry. 
Ford's  translation  is  clumsy,  frequently  obscure,  and  often 
wide  of  the  Greek.  In  1870  Professor  Goodwin  offered  a 
corrected  and  revised  text  of  this  rendering  of  the  Morals, 
and  the  fact  that  the  sixth  edition  appeared  in  1898  attests 
the  usefulness  of  this  revised  version.  However,  of  the 
essay  under  consideration  much  more  than  a  revision  of 


Preface 

Ford's  translation  is  needed,  if  the  essay  is  to  assume  its 
proper  place  in  our  study  of  poetics. 

There  seems  to  have  been  one  separate  translation  of 
Basil's  homily  into  English,  although  it  is  not  recorded  in 
the  catalogue  of  the  British  Museum.  It  appeared  at  the 
press  of  John  Cawood  in  octavo  form,  and  was  printed  in 
black  letter.  According  to  Ames  and  Herbert^  it  bore  the 
following  title:  'An  Homelye  of  Basilius  Magnus,  Howe 
Younge  Men  oughte  to  reade  Poets  and  Oratours.  Trans- 
lated out  of  Greke.  Anno  M.  D.  LVIL'  Nothing  seems 
to  be  known  about  the  author. 

It  is  interesting  to  find  that  the  two  essays  of  Plutarch 
and  Basil  were  associated  by  Archbishop  Potter  of  Canter- 
bury in  the  first  of  his  learned  publications.  In  1694,  when 
barely  twenty,^  and  just  after  he  was  made  a  Fellow  of 
Lincoln  College,  he  published  at  Oxford  an  octavo  volume 
with  the  following  title:  'Variantes  Lectiones  et  Notae  ad 
Plutarchi  librum  de  Audiendis  Poetis ;  et  ad  Basilii  Magni 
Orationem  ad  Juvenes.'  In  1753  a  second  edition  of  this 
book  was  issued  at  Glasgow.  Potter,  however,  was  not  the 
first  to  associate  these  essays;  in  1600  Martin  Haynoccius 
published  them  in  an  Enchiridion  Ethicum,  and  Grotius 
brought  out  an  edition  of  the  two  at  Paris  in  1623. 

A  German  dissertation,  De  Fontibus  Plutarchi  Comment, 
de  Audiendis  Poetis  et  de  Fortuna,  written  by  August 
Schlemm,  and  published  at  Gottingen  in  1894,  shows  the 
probable  indebtedness  of  Plutarch's  essay  to  the  lost  writ- 
ings of  the  Stoics  and  Peripatetics.  I  am  indebted  to  Herr 
Schlemm  for  several  of  my  notes,  and  offer  his  conclusions 
in  an  appendix. 

In  the  present  renderings  an  attempt  has  been  made  to 
express  the  spirit  and  style  of  the  originals,  and  thus  to 
reproduce  the  looseness  and  indirectness  of  Plutarch's 
thought,  as  well  as  the  conciseness  and  rapid  movement  of 
Basil's  language.     The  translation  of  Plutarch  follows  the 

'  Typographical  Antiquities,  London,  1785-6-90. 
^  See  Diet.  Nat.  Biog.  s.  v.     John  Potter. 


Preface 

text  of  Bernardakis,  and  the  rendering  of  Basil  the  text 
of  Migne.  Acknowledgment  should  be  made  of  sugges- 
tions taken  from  the  earlier  English  translations  of  Plutarch, 
from  the  German  version  of  Basil  by  Kaltwasser,  and  from 
Maloney's  school  edition  of  Basil's  essay.  For  the  many 
quotations  from  the  Iliad  and  the  Odyssey,  the  translations 
by  Lang,  Leaf,  and  Myers,  and  by  Butcher  and  Lang,  have 
been  adopted;  wherever  quotations  from  Plato  or  from 
Aristotle's  Poetics  have  been  embodied  in  the  notes,  the  ver- 
sions of  Jowett  and  of  Butcher  have  been  followed. 

The  notes  attempt  to  show  the  indebtedness  of  the  essays 
to  earlier  Greek  literature,  and  to  furnish  interesting  paral- 
lels from  the  classics,  but  do  not  cite  the  many  passages  from 
modern  writers  which  are  similar  in  thought.  Biographical 
notices  are  taken  from  Johnson's  Encyclopaedia,  Smith's 
Dictionary  of  Greek  and  Roman  Biography  and  Mythology, 
and  Miiller's  Handbuch  der  Klassischen  Alterthumswissen- 
schaft.  Fragments  from  the  Greek  philosophers,  drama- 
tists, and  lyrists,  are  referred  to  the  collections  of  Mullach, 
Nauck,  Meineke,  and  Bergk,  even  when  these  essays  furnish 
the  sources  for  the  fragments.  A  few  quotations  and  allu- 
sions have  escaped  me,  and  I  shall  be  grateful  to  any  reader 
who  will  direct  my  attention  to  the  originals. 

The  preparation  of  this  volume  was  undertaken  at  the 
suggestion  of  Professor  Albert  S.  Cook,  and  it  owes  much 
to  his  interest.  Professor  George  D.  B.  Pepper,  ex-Presi- 
dent of  Colby  College,  has  read  the  translations  with  pains- 
taking care,  and  Dr.  Charles  Grosvenor  Osgood,  Jr.,  of  Yale 
University,  has  read  both  translations  and  introduction ;  to 
their  suggestions  the  book,  whatever  its  imperfections,  is 
greatly  indebted.  To  my  colleagues,  Dr.  Thomas  F.  Kane 
and  Dr.  Arthur  S.  Haggett,  with  whom  I  have  frequently 
advised,  I  also  acknowledge  my  obligations. 

F.  M.  P. 

Seattle,  Washington. 

August  i6,  1902, 


INTRODUCTION 


PLUTARCH'S   THEORY   OF   POETRY 

Unless  one  accepts  the  theory,  playfully  or  otherwise 
advanced  in  the  Ion,  that  the  poet  is  but  the  instrument  of 
an  overmastering  divinity,  he  is  often  at  a  loss  to  explain  the 
inability  of  many  a  genius  in  the  world  of  art  and  letters  to 
judge  of  the  relative  excellence  of  his  own  creations. 
Michel  Angelo  eagerly  dropped  the  brush  and  resumed  the 
chisel,  with  the  joy  of  one  who  returns  to  the  work  he  loves 
after  interruption,  and  yet  succeeding  generations  have  been 
unable  to  tell  whether  they  admire  more  the  frescoes  of  the 
Chapel  or  the  Pieta;  Wordsworth,  the  author  of  Michael, 
the  Daffodils,  and  'There  Was  a  Boy,'  with  infinite  self-satis- 
faction drew  out  the  prolonged  monotony  of  the  Excursion 
as  the  supreme  work  of  a  lifetime ;  and  he  whose  imagination 
swept  from  the  Visible  darkness'  of  the  throne  of  Chaos 
to  the  skirts  of  God,  'dark  with  excessive  bright,'  failed 
to  see  how  far  the  intensity,  sublimity,  and  mighty  organ- 
tones  of  Paradise  Lost  excel  the  unimpassioned  finish  of 
Paradise  Regained, 

In  a  similar  way  Plutarch  misjudged  his  productions, 
for  although  he  regarded  philosophy  as  the  ideal  field  for 
the  mind's  activity,  he  was  not  profound  enough  nor  subtle 
enough  to  excel  as  a  philosopher,  so  that  the  Morals  are 
hardly  known  more  than  by  title  to  the  cultivated  reader  of 
to-day,  while  the  Lives,  those  'idealized  ethical  portraits,'  as 
Professor  Perrin  calls  them,  have  charmed  generations  of 
English  readers  by  their  freshness  and  spirit,  and  are  found 
on  many  a  book-shelf  where  poverty  allows  them  no  other 
companions  save  Shakespeare  and  the  Bible. 

And  yet  the  Morals  have  great  value  historically.  No 
other  extant  writings  give  so  complete  and  satisfactory  a 
record  of  custom  and  thought  in  the  late  Greek  period. 

13 


Plutarch's  Theory  of  Poetry 

Domestic  life  in  its  many  phases,  affairs  of  government, 
questions  of  religion  and  ethics,  the  investigations  of  science, 
and  the  problems  of  art,  all  find  a  place  in  the  pages  of  this 
multifarious  collection  of  essays. 

The  student  of  poetry,  and  of  aesthetics  in  general,  will 
find  these  essays  fruitful  or  barren  according  to  the  point 
of  view  from  which  they  are  approached.  If,  in  the  essay 
on  poetry,  the  reader  looks  for  intrinsic  excellence  in  criti- 
cism, he  will  be  disappointed,  and  will  find  many  pages  that 
are  distressingly  pedantic,  and  many  that  are  commonplace 
and  trivial;  thus,  when  the  charming  episode  of  Nausicaa 
and  Odysseus  is  made  the  subject  of  prudish  speculation,  the 
reader  is  equally  offended  by  the  triteness  of  the  thought 
and  by  the  writer's  pragmatism.  If,  however,  Plutarch  is 
regarded  as  an  exponent  of  the  thought  and  feeling  of  his 
time,  the  essay  is  full  of  significance,  for  it  shows  the 
attempts  of  decadent  Greece  to  deal  with  an  art  which  had 
been  the  glory  of  the  classical  period. 

Accordingly,  the  following  pages  will  attempt  an  analysis 
of  Plutarch's  theory  of  poetry,  the  material  furnished  by  the 
essay  on  poetry  being  supplemented  by  gleanings  here  and 
there  from  essays  on  other  subjects.  First  will  be  consid- 
ered Plutarch's  theory  of  the  distinction  between  poetry  and 
prose;  secondly,  his  theory  of  the  relation  of  poetry  to 
nature  and  to  truth ;  thirdly,  his  theory  of  the  end  of  fine  art. 

Wherein  do  poetry  and  prose  differ?  Although  Plutarch 
does  not  follow  Aristotle  in  threatening  the  established 
tradition  which  made  metrical  form  essential  to  poetry,^ 
he  does  agree  with  him  in  saying  that  the  nature  of  its  sub- 
ject largely  determines  whether  a  composition  is  prose  or 
poetry.^  With  playful  disdain  he  criticizes  the  early  Greek 
philosophers  and  naturalists  for  presenting  didactic  sub- 
jects metrically:  'The  verses  of  Empedocles  and  Par- 
menides,  Nicander's  verses  on  antidotes  to  poisons,  and  the 
maxims  of  Theognis,  borrowed  the  poetic  form  and  dignity 
only   as   a   sort   of   riding-carriage   to   avoid   footing   it.'^ 

^  Poet.  i.  5;   ix.  9.  ^i^jd.  i.  7-8  ;  ix.  2.  ^See  p.  53. 


Plutarch's  Theory  of  Poetry 

This  idea  is  more  elaborately  developed  in  the  essay  entitled 
Why  the  Pythian  Priestess  Ceases  her  Oracles  in  Verse  :^ 
Vanity  and  love  of  display,  united  with  a  certain  racial  apti- 
tude, led  men  to  clothe  history  and  philosophy  in  verse, 
though  these  subjects,  being  of  a  grave  and  solid  nature,  and 
designed  to  teach  rather  than  to  move,  demand  the  severity 
and  directness  of  prose.  Subjects  of  a  didactic  nature  are 
purely  intellectual,  and  demand  perfect  simplicity  in  expres- 
sion. 

Poetry,  on  the  other  hand,  is  the  product  of  intellect  and 
feeling  combined,  and  hence,  because  its  appeal  is  quite  as 
much  to  the  feelings  as  to  the  intellect,  requires  the  sensu- 
ousness  of  verse.  In  the  Symposiacs  there  is  a  discussion 
of  why  it  is  commonly  said  that  love  makes  a  man  a  poet, 
and  one  Sossius  offers  the  following  explanation:  'One 
would  do  well  to  explain  it  in  the  light  of  Theophrastus'  dis- 
course on  music,  a  book  that  I  have  just  finished  reading. 
Theophrastus  holds  that  music  has  three  causes,  grief,  joy, 
and  inspiration,  since  each  one  of  these  alters  the  wonted 
tone  of  the  voice.  Grief  utters  its  mournful  lamentations  in 
song,  which  explains  why  orators  in  their  perorations,  and 
actors  in  their  lamentings,  employ  soft  and  musical  cadence. 
Intense  and  excessive  joy  completely  carries  away  the 
lighter-minded  fellows,  and  incites  them  to  hop  about  and 
frisk  and  keep  their  steps,  even  though  they  know  nothing 
about  dancing ;  as  Pindar  has  it,  "The  frenzy  and  shouts  of 
those  aroused,  and  their  wild  tossings  of  the  head."  But 
men  of  taste  and  refinement,  when  subject  to  this  emotion, 
are  incited  only  to  sing  and  to  give  voice  to  verse  and  mel- 
ody. Inspiration  most  of  all  changes  the  customary  state 
of  body  and  voice.  Whence  the  Bacchae  use  rhythm,  and 
the  inspired  give  forth  their  oracles  in  metre,  and  one 
sees  few  madmen  who  do  not  utter  their  insane  ravings 
in  poetry  and  song.  Such  being  the  case,  if  you  should 
observe  love  with  a  critical  eye  and  examine  closely  into  it, 
you  would  find  that  no  other  passion  is  attended  with  more 

^  23-24. 

15 


Plutarch's  Theory  of  Poetry 

bitter  grief,  more  intense  and  excessive  joy,  or  greater 
ecstasy  and  madness.  A  lover's  soul  looks  like  Sophocles' 
city,  "At  the  same  moment  it  is  full  of  sacrifices,  of  paeans, 
and  of  lamentations."^  Wherefore  it  is  not  strange  or  sur- 
prising that,  since  love  contains  all  the  causes  of  music — 
grief,  joy,  and  inspiration — and  is  also  prone  to  talk  and 
babble,  it  should  be  more  inclined  than  any  other  passion 
to  the  making  of  poetry  and  songs.  But  although  the 
poet  must  be  a  man  of  sensitive  emotions,  not  every  man 
of  sensibility  will  be  a  poet.  The  power  to  express  passion- 
ate feeling  in  language  melodious,  rhythmical,  and  nobly 
embellished  is  a  gift  to  rare  temperaments.  Consequently, 
when  Euripides  says  that  "Love  makes  men  poets  who  before 
no  music  knew,"^  he  does  not  mean  that  love  infuses  music 
and  poetry  into  men  that  were  not  already  inclined  to  them, 
but  that  it  warms  and  awakens  that  disposition  which  lay 
inactive  and  drowsy  before.  .  .  .  Poetic  rapture,  like  the 
raptures  of  love,  makes  use  of  the  ability  of  its  subject.'^ 
It  was  because  this  temperamental  aptitude  was  general 
among  the  early  Greeks  that  they  produced  such  a  wealth  of 
poetry.  A  people  whose  civilization  favored  a  natural  and 
sincere  play  of  the  emotions  was  equipped  with  a  genius  for 
metrical  utterance,  and  responded  to  the  slightest  excitation 
with  spontaneous  and  melodious  poetry;  accordingly  their 
banquets,  where  wine  flowed  and  spirits  were  high,  were 
graced  with  charming  odes  and  love-songs.* 

But  while  emotion  plays  a  large  part  in  poetry,  as  already 
stated  poetry  is  the  product,  not  of  feeling  alone,  but  of 
intellect  as  well ;  one  must  therefore  not  allow  such  a  pas- 
sage as  that  quoted  above,  which,  moreover,  is  dealing 
strictly  with  lyrics,  to  cause  him  to  overlook  the  emphasis 
laid  upon  wisdom  and  judgment  as  factors  in  the  production 
of  poetry.  Indeed,  by  this  very  word  'enthusiasm,'  Plutarch 
does  not  mean  that  the  poet's  personality  is  lost  while  the 

'  Oed.  Tyr.  4. 

^  Nauck  666. 

^  Why  the  Pythian  Priestess  Ceases  her  Oracles  in  Verse  23. 

^Ibid.  23. 

16 


Plutarch's  Theory  of  Poetry 

god  is  speaking  through  him,  for  he  is  too  much  of  a 
rationaHst  to  entertain  such  a  theory  of  divine  possession; 
rather,  that  the  god  uses  each  poet  according  to  the  abiUty 
which  nature  and  training  have  given  him.  Even  the 
Pythian  priestess,  if  brought  up  among  the  ignorant,  must 
utter  her  oracles  in  prose.^ 

The  necessity  for  this  element  of  judgment  in  the  produc- 
tion of  works  of  art  is  considered  at  length  in  the  essay  On 
Music.^  The  thought  is  that  he  is  the  best  musician  who 
combines  the  greatest  amount  of  skill  with  the  best  judg- 
ment. By  skill  is  meant  the  technical  understanding  of 
the  different  modes,  such  as  the  Dorian,  the  Ionian,  and  the 
Phrygian,  and  the  ability  to  play  or  sing  in  any  one  of  them 
without  violating  the  laws  of  harmony.  Judgment  is  an 
inclusive  term,  comprising  the  ability  to  discover  the  nature 
and  genius  of  the  poem,  to  choose  for  it  the  mode  which  is 
most  appropriate,  and  to  judge  of  the  coherency  of  all  the 
component  parts.^  As  to  the  importance  of  a  knowledge  of 
philosophy  for  the  production,  or  the  appreciation,  of  music, 
Plutarch  does  not  go  to  the  extreme  of  Pythagoras,  who 
'rejected  the  judging  of  music  by  the  senses,  affirming  that 
the  virtue  of  music  could  be  appreciated  only  by  the  intel- 
lect,'* yet  he  does  advise  him  who  would  be  proficient  in 
this  art  to  acquaint  himself  with  all  sciences,  and  especially 
to  make  philosophy  his  tutor.® 

It  is  needless  to  enforce  this  point  further  by  citing 
passages  from  the  essay  on  poetry;  suffice  it  to  say  that 
Plutarch  thought  that  poetry  of  real  excellence  must  be 
grounded  in  philosophy. 

To  summarize  the  conclusions  already  reached:  while 
prose  is  didactic,  and  appeals  to  the  intellect,  poetry  is 

^Ibid.  22. 

2  Among  the  Greeks  music  was  accessory  to  poetry.  Throughout 
this  essay  the  intimate  relation  of  poetry  and  music  is  apparent  on  every 
page,  at  times  it  being  almost  impossible  to  tell  whether  the  writer  is 
speaking  of  the  one  or  the  other.  In  this  essay  Plutarch  follows  the 
theories  of  Aristoxenus  and  Heraclides. 

^Siff.  ^  Ibid.  37  ;  see  Plato,  Zaize/j  ii.  659.  ^  Ibid.  23. 

17 


Plutarch's  Theory  of  Poetry 

emotional,  and  the  product  of  feeling  as  well  as  of  intellect. 
Further,  poetical  power  is  a  gift,  but  a  gift  that  may  be 
refined  by  proper  training — indeed,  a  gift  that  cannot  be  pos- 
sessed by  the  altogether  untutored. 

So  much  for  Plutarch's  distinction  between  prose  and 
poetry.  Let  us  now  consider  his  theory  of  the  relation  of 
poetry  to  nature  and  to  truth. 

Does  poetry  copy  nature  or  transcend  it  ?  Is  it  truthful  or 
untruthful  ?  Is  it  universal  or  restricted  ?  We  shall  find  an 
answer  to  these  questions  in  determining  Plutarch's  use  of 
the  expression  'imitation.'  Imitation  as  applied  to  the  arts 
was  employed  by  Greek  writers  very  generally,  and  widely 
dififering  theories  of  its  nature  were  held.  As  both  Plato 
and  Aristotle  give  much  prominence  to  this  term  in  their 
discussions  of  art,  it  will  be  helpful  to  examine  somewhat 
carefully  their  employment  of  the  word,  in  order  that  Plu- 
tarch's views  may  be  seen  against  the  background  of  earlier 
Greek  thought.  In  the  tenth  book  of  the  Republic,^  where  the 
work  of  poet  and  painter  is  discussed,  we  find  the  following 
train  of  thought :  The  artist  is  one  who  turns  a  mirror  round 
and  round,  and  catches  the  reflection  of  objects — of  the  sun, 
the  heavens,  the  earth,  plants,  animals,  men.  There  is  the 
ideal  world  as  it  exists  in  the  mind  of  God,  for  example,  the 
ideal  plant,  table,  or  man ;  the  actual  world  which  produces 
plants,  tables,  or  men  imitative  of  the  ideal ;  and  the  world 
of  the  artist,  in  which  are  copied  the  appearances  of  the 
objects  in  the  actual  world.  Imitative  art  is  therefore  an 
imitation  of  an  imitation,  and  further  from  truth  than  the 
world  of  nature  about  us;  it  is  three  removes  from  God. 
Useful  art  is  superior  to  imitative  art,  for  the  carpenter  who 
makes  a  bed  is  better  employed  than  the  painter  who  repro- 
duces the  appearance  of  the  bed,  and  the  general  who  con- 
ducts a  campaign  tlian  Homer,  the  poet  of  battles.^ 

1 595-607. 

^  See  Plutarch,  Whether  the  Athenians  were  More  Renowned  for  their 
Warlike  Achievements  or  their  Learning  cc.  vi-viii,  for  an  elaborate 
argument  that  more  honor  belongs  to  commanders  than  to  poets, 
orators,  and  historians. 

18 


Plutarch's  Theory  of  Poetry 

Further  light  is  thrown  on  this  conception  of  imitation 
in  the  Third  Book/  where  it  is  defined  as  the  assimilation 
of  oneself  to  another,  whose  character  is  assumed.  Pre- 
cisely because  any  such  assumption  of  the  character  of 
another  is  undignified,  unnatural,  and  insincere,  because,  for 
example,  the  poet,  not  being  a  cobbler,  can  never  really  act  the 
cobbler,  all  imitative  artists  were  to  leave  the  Republic,  even 
though  the  banishment  included  the  much  loved  Homer. 
All  art,  however,  was  not  excluded,  for  Plato  implies  a 
distinction  between  imitative  art  and  true  art.  The  best 
art  is  the  sincere  and  direct  expression  of  a  courageous 
and  harmonious  life,  not  the  product  of  the  fancy  of  some 
'pantomimically- versatile'  imitator.  The  Republic  is  a  return 
to  simplicity,  and  that  poetry  alone  is  permissible  which 
expresses  the  simplicity  of  a  mind  so  nobly  ordered  that, 
whether  in  action  or  repose,  it  expresses  the  highest  moral 
energy.  The  temper  of  this,  the  true  artist-soul,  gives  char- 
acter to  the  words,  and  through  the  words  to  the  rhythm 
and  harmony.  Rhythm  and  harmony,  then,  become  formal 
expressions  of  the  great  virtues,  bravery  and  temperance; 
they  give  to  the  senses  graceful  and  beautiful  expression  of 
true  beauty  and  grace,  for,  in  Plato's  very  words,  'grace  and 
harmony  are  the  sisters  and  images  of  goodness  and  vir- 
tue.'^ Such  rhythm  and  harmony  find  their  way  into  the 
inmost  part  of  the  soul  of  the  listener,  and  render  right  the 
form  of  his  soul  through  their  rightness  of  form.^  Such 
art  is  one  with  the  music  of  the  spheres;  it  is  divine 
beauty  and  loveliness.* 

In  the  Poetics  of  Aristotle  imitation  is  used  in  two  senses. 
In  an  early  chapter,  where  Aristotle  simply  wishes  to  show 
that  the  instinct  of  imitation  is  universal,  occurs  the  follow- 
'393.  '401.  ^402. 

*In  Laws  vii.  817,  in  a  less  severe  vein  Plato  is  more  generous  to 
tragedy,  speaking  of  it  as  above  of  ideal  art :  '  Our  whole  state  is  an 
imitation  of  the  best  and  noblest  life,  which  we  affirm  to  be  indeed  the 
very  truth  of  tragedy.'  Likewise,  in  Laws  ii.  667-669,  imitative  art  is 
defined  as  good  when  it  truthfully  reproduces  the  original  as  to  propor- 
tions, etc.,  and  is  beautiful. 

19 


Plutarch's  Theory  of  Poetry 

ing  statement :  Toetry  in  general  seems  to  have  sprung  from 
two  causes,  each  of  them  lying  deep  in  our  nature.  First, 
the  instinct  of  imitation  is  implanted  in  man  from  childhood, 
one  difference  between  him  and  other  animals  being  that  he 
is  the  most  imitative  of  living  creatures ;  and  through  imita- 
tion he  learns  his  earliest  lessons;  and  no  less  universal 
is  the  pleasure  felt  in  things  imitated.  We  have  evidence 
of  this  in  the  facts  of  experience.  Objects  which  in  them- 
selves we  view  with  pain,  we  delight  to  contemplate  when 
reproduced  with  minute  fidelity,  such  as  the  forms  of  the 
most  ignoble  animals  and  of  dead  bodies.  The  cause  of 
this  again  is,  that  to  learn  gives  the  liveliest  pleasure,  not 
only  to  philosophers,  but  to  men  in  general,  whose  capacity 
of  learning,  however,  is  more  limited.  Thus  the  reason  why 
men  enjoy  seeing  a  likeness  is  that  in  contemplating  it  they 
find  themselves  learning  or  inferring,  and  saying  perhaps, 
"Ah,  that  is  he."  For  if  you  happen  not  to  have  seen  the 
original,  the  pleasure  will  be  due  not  to  the  imitation  as 
such,  but  to  the  execution,  the  coloring,  or  some  such 
thing.'^ 

That  Aristotle  is  speaking  of  imitation  in  general,  and  not 
of  artistic  imitation,  is  at  once  apparent  when  one  reads  in 
other  chapters  that  ^.Poetry  imitates  men  as  they  ought  to 
be  ;'2  that  it  'is  a  more  philosophical  and  a  higher  thing  than 
history,'^  for  the  'one  relates  what  has  happened,  the  other 
what  may  happen;'*  that  'poetry  tends  to  express  the  uni- 
versal, history  the  particular.'^  In  essence  Aristotle  says 
that  poetry  is  not  limited  to  the  actual  deeds  of  men  who 
have  lived,  but  that,  freeing  itself  from  the  trammels  of  the 
accidental,  the  temporary,  and  the  local,  it  portrays  men 
nobler  than  nature,  though  such  men  as  nature's  tendencies 
toward  the  ideal  would  produce.     The  poet  sees  through  and 

Mv.  1-5. 

^  Foet  i.  5  ;  see  also  xxv.  6  :  '  Further,  if  it  be  objected  that  the 
description  is  not  true  to  fact,  the  poet  may  perhaps  reply,  *' But  the 
objects  are  as  they  ought  to  be  ;  "  just  as  Sophocles  said  that  he  drew 
men  as  they  ought  to  be  drawn  *  Euripides  as  they  are.' 

3 Ibid.  ix.  3.  ''Ibid.  ix.  2.  ^Ibid.  ix.  3. 

20 


Plutarch's  Theory  of  Poetry 

beyond  nature  to  the  models  of  her  workmanship.  Thus, 
good  portrait-painters,  'while  reproducing  the  distinctive 
form  of  the  original,  make  a  likeness  which  is  true  to  life, 
and  yet  more  beautiful.  So,  too,  the  poet,  in  representing 
men  quick  or  slow  to  anger,  or  with  other  defects  of  charac- 
ter, should  preserve  the  type  and  yet  ennoble  it.  In  this 
way  Achilles  is  portrayed  by  Agathon  and  Homer.'^ 

Further,  artistic  imitation  does  not  include  the  portrayal 
of  animals  and  of  still  life.  The  objects  of  aesthetic  imita- 
tion are  rj^rj,  TrdOrj,  and  TrpaicLs,  which  Butcher  defines  as 
'the  characteristic  moral  qualities,  transient  emotions,  and 
actions  in  their  proper  and  inward  sense,'^  meaning  by  the 
last,  actions  which  are  the  inevitable  expression  of  intellec- 
tual and  emotional  activity.  Men  acting,  therefore,  Aristotle 
defines  as  the  objects  imitated  by  the  fine  arts,  because  such 
actions  as  the  artist  makes  use  of  spring  from  a  deep  source, 
and  are  but  the  outward  manifestations  of  the  movements  of 
the  soul. 

Plutarch  treats  the  subject  of  imitation  as  follows:  'We 
shall  still  more  thoroughly  ground  the  young  man,  if,  on 
introducing  him  to  poetry,  we  explain  to  him  that  it  is 
an  imitative  art  and  agent,  analogous  to  painting.  Not  only 
must  he  be  made  acquainted  with  the  common  saying  that 
poetry  is  vocal  painting,  and  painting  silent  poetry,  but  we 
must  teach  him  also  that  when  we  see  a  painting  of  a  lizard, 
an  ape,  or  the  face  of  Thersites,  our  pleasure  and  surprise 
are  occasioned,  not  by  the  beauty  of  the  object,  but  by 
its  likeness.  For  it  is  naturally  impossible  for  the  ugly 
to  be  beautiful,  but  it  is  the  imitation  which  is  praised  if  it 
reproduce  to  the  life  either  an  ugly  or  a  beautiful  object. 
On  the  other  hand,  if  an  ugly  object  is  represented  as  beau- 
tiful, we  deny  the  truthfulness  or  the  consistency  of  the 
picture.  Now  there  are  some  artists  who  paint  uncomely 
actions;  thus  Timotheus  pictured  Medea  killing  her  chil- 
dren ;  Theon  showed  Orestes  murdering  his  mother ;   Parr- 

1  Ibid.  XV.  8. 

^  Butcher,  Aristotle's  Theory  of  Poetry  and  Fine  Art  c.  ii. 

21 


Plutarch's  Theory  of  Poetry 

hasius,  Odysseus  counterfeiting  madness;  and  Chaere- 
phanes,  the  unchaste  converse  of  women  with  men.  In  such 
instances  it  is  especially  important  that  the  young  man  come 
to  understand  that  we  do  not  praise  the  action  which  is  imi- 
tated, but  the  art,  provided  the  subject  is  treated  accurately. 
Since  now  poetry  also  frequently  describes  base  actions 
and  depraved  emotions  and  character,  the  youth  must  not 
confound  their  artistic  admirableness  and  success  with 
truth,  nor  rank  them  as  beautiful,  but  he  is  to  praise  them 
only  as  accurate  and  natural  likenesses  of  the  things  treated. 
For  as  we  are  annoyed  when  we  hear  the  grunting  of  a 
hog,  the  noise  of  pulleys,  the  whistling  of  the  wind,  and 
the  roaring  of  the  seas,  but  are  pleased  if  any  one  imitates 
them  with  naturalness,  as  Parmenio  did  the  hog,^  and  Theo- 
dorus  the  pulleys ;  and  as  we  avoid  the  unpleasant  sight  of 
an  unhealthy  man  with  festering  sores,  but  take  pleasure 
in  witnessing  the  Philoctetes  of  Aristophon  and  the  Jo  casta  of 
Silanion^ — which  are  realistic  likenesses  of  wasting  and  dying 

^  See  Symposiacs  v.  i  :  '  For  upon  what  account,  for  God's  sake, 
from  what  external  impression  upon  our  organ,  should  men  be  moved 
to  admire  Parmenio's  sow  so  much  as  to  pass  it  into  a  proverb  ?  Yet  it 
is  reported,  that  Parmenio  being  very  famous  for  imitating  the  grunting 
of  a  pig,  some  endeavored  to  rival  and  outdo  him.  And  when  the 
hearers,  being  prejudiced,  cried  out,  "  Very  well  indeed,  but  nothing 
comparable  to  Parmenio's  sow  ;"  one  took  a  pig  under  his  arm  and  came 
upon  the  stage.  And  when,  though  they  heard  the  very  pig,  they  still 
continued,  "  This  is  nothing  comparable  to  Parmenio's  sow  ;"  he  threw 
his  pig  amongst  them,  to  show  that  they  judged  according  to  opinion 
and  not  truth.'  [This  translation  is  taken  from  the  Goodwin  edition.] 
See  Rep.  iii.  397,  for  Plato's  condemnation  of  this  kind  of  imitation  : 
'  But  another  sort  of  character  will  narrate  anything,  and  the  worse  he 
is  the  more  unscrupulous  he  will  be  ;  nothing  will  be  beneath  him  : 
moreover  he  will  be  ready  to  imitate  anything,  not  as  a  joke,  but  in  right 
good  earnest,  and  before  a  large  audience.  As  I  was  just  now  saying, 
he  will  attempt  to  represent  the  roll  of  thunder,  the  rattle  of  wind  and 
hail,  or  the  various  sounds  of  pulleys,  of  pipes,  of  flutes,  and  all  sorts 
of  instruments  :  also  he  will  bark  like  a  dog,  bleat  like  a  sheep,  and 
crow  like  a  cock  ;  his  entire  art  will  consist  in  imitation  of  voice  and 
gesture,  and  there  will  be  very  little  narration.' 

^  Ibid. :  '  And  therefore,  because  he  that  is  really  affected  with  grief 
or  anger  presents  us  with  nothing  but  the  common  bare  passion,  but  in 

22 


Plutarch's  Theory  of  Poetry 

persons — so  when  the  youth  reads  what  Thersites  the  buf- 
foon, or  Sisyphus  the  debaucher,  or  Batrachus  the  brothel- 
keeper  says  or  does,  he  must  be  taught  to  praise  the  genius 
and  the  art  which  imitates  them,  but  to  censure  the  subjects 
and  actions  with  opprobrium.  For  the  excellence  of  a 
thing  and  the  excellence  of  its  imitation  are  not  the  same. 
Fitness  and  naturalness  constitute  excellence,  but  to  things 
base,  the  base  is  natural  and  fit.'^ 

To  this  passage  two  questions  address  themselves :  What 
are  the  subjects  of  aesthetic  imitation,  and  what  is  its  nature? 

The  first  may  be  answered  without  trouble:  clearly  all 
forms  of  life  are  legitimate  for  artistic  treatment — inferior 
types  of  animal  life,  such  as  a  lizard  or  an  ape,  as  well  as 
heroic  men  like  Achilles  and  Hector;  and  in  human  con- 
duct, immorality  and  obscenity,  as  well  as  self-control  and 
heroism. 

In  making  all  objects  proper  for  artistic  reproduction, 
Plutarch  showed  that,  in  theory  at  least,  he  was  far  from 
assigning  poetry  the  exalted  place  which  Aristotle  had 
given  it.     Not  only  did  Aristotle  exclude  all  but  human 

the  imitation  some  dexterity  and  persuasiveness  appears,  we  are  nat- 
urally inclined  to  be  disturbed  at  the  former,  whilst  the  latter  delights 
us.  It  is  unpleasant  to  see  a  sick  man,  or  one  that  is  at  his  last  gasp  ; 
yet  with  content  we  can  look  upon  the  picture  of  Philoctetes,  or  the 
statue  of  Jocasta,  in  whose  face  it  is  commonly  said  that  the  workmen 
mixed  silver,  so  that  the  brass  might  represent  the  face  and  color  of 
one  ready  to  faint  and  yield  up  the  ghost.  And  this,  said  I,  the  Cyre- 
niacs  may  use  as  a  strong  argument  against  you  Epicureans,  that  all 
the  sense  of  pleasure  which  arises  from  the  working  of  any  object  on 
the  ear  or  eye  is  not  in  those  organs,  but  in  the  intellect  itself.  Thus 
the  continued  cackling  of  a  hen  or  cawing  of  a  crow  is  very  ungrateful 
and  disturbing  ;  yet  he  that  imitates  those  noises  well  pleases  the 
hearers.  Thus  to  behold  a  consumptive  man  is  no  delightful  spec- 
tacle ;  yet  with  pleasure  we  can  view  the  pictures  and  statues  of  such 
persons,  because  the  very  imitating  hath  something  in  it  very  agreeable 
to  the  mind,  which  allures  and  captivates  its  faculties.'  [Goodwin  ed.] 
^  See  pp.  58-60.  See  also  the  Symposiacs  i.  i,  where  is  discussed  the 
question  of  why  we  take  delight  in  hearing  those  that  represent  the 
passions  of  men  angry  or  sorrowful,  and  yet  cannot  without  concern 
behold  those  who  are  really  so  aifected. 

23 


Plutarch's  Theory  of  Poetry 

life  from  art,  but  he  discriminated  between  the  artistic  excel- 
lence of  noble  and  of  ignoble  conduct.  To  such  subjects  as 
Chaerephanes  painted  he  all  but  denied  the  name  of  art, 
for  they  represent  conduct  false  and  temporary,  and  stand 
for  nothing  permanent  nor  structural.  The  nobler  the  types 
of  character  which  the  poet  imitates  the  more  will  his  work 
be  artistic.  Aristotle  would  have  had  little  sympathy  with 
one  who 'could  find  matter  for  artistic  approval  in  the  ugly 
or  in  the  immoral,  however  correctly  delineated. 

We  find  further  evidence  that  Plutarch  did  not  appre- 
ciate Aristotle's  conception  of  the  proper  subject-matter 
for  art  in  his  use  of  the  terms  yOr],  TrdOrj,  and  -n-pd^eL?,  since, 
although  he  employed  them  freely,  he  did  not  appreciate 
their  combined  idea,  for  he  robbed  the  expression  men  act- 
ing of  its  Aristotelian  significance  by  using  epya,  irpdyyia, 
and  TT/oo^ts  quite  interchangeably/ 

Turning  now  to  the  consideration  of  the  nature  of  aes- 
thetic imitation,  we  find  such  expressions  in  the  above 
passage  as  likeness  (oftotov),  truthfulness  {Ilko^)  consist- 
ency (it pirrov)  ^reproduction  to  the  life  (i<fiLKrjTaL  rrj^  ofiOLorrjTOs)  ^ 

and  naturalness  {TnOavm)  bringing  us  face  to  face  with 
the  question  of  the  relation  of  poetry  to  truth.  Is  poetry 
a  reproduction  of  life  as  it  appears  to  the  outward  eye,  or  is 
it  rather  a  reproduction  of  that  archetypal  existence  of  which 
life  as  we  commonly  see  it  is  but  a  reflection? 

The  answer  is  furnished  by  the  chapter  of  the  essay  on 
poetry  which  discusses  poetic  deception  (c.  ii.).  I  venture 
to  outline  the  thought  of  this  rather  incoherent  passage: 
The  poets  falsify  both  intentionally  and  unintentionally; 
intentionally  in  two  ways,  and  first  through  the  use  of  plot. 
To  gain  an  audience  the  poet  weaves  a  fabric  of  fiction. 
This  is  winsome  and  engaging  in  proportion  to  its  illusion 

^  See  the  Essay  on  Poetry  c.  iii  :  (.v  olf  fiaT^iara  del  tov  veov  edi(ea6ai, 
diSacKd/ievov  brt  rrjv  npd^iv  ovk  tnatvovfiev  rjg  yeyovev  rj  /lifiijaig,  aX2,a  t^v 
rixvriv  el  juefiifiTfrai  TrpoaijKdvTug  to  vTroKsi/nevov.  kTzel  roivvv  koI  ttoltjtlk^  ttoX- 
?AKig  epya  ^avka  koX  Tcddij  fxox'^Tjpa  koI  rjdi]  pifiTjTiKcbg  a'Kayyk'k'KtL — ;  aXka  rov- 
vavTiov  rj  rrpbg  to  npdaunov  vTrotpia  diafidXTiet  koc  to  npaypa  koi  tov  ?i6yov  — . 


24 


Plutarch's  Theory  of  Poetry 

and  its  probability,  but  illusion  and  probability  must  be 
secured  in  spite  of  a  departure  from  the  events  of  real  life 
and  from  the  fixed  truth.  Actual  events  are  not  pleasant  to 
contemplate,  but  poetry  is  made  attractive  by  so  shaping 
events  that  an  agreeable  denouement  results.  This  makes 
the  writer  of  fiction  relatively  indifferent  to  truth,  and  there- 
fore Socrates,  the  champion  of  truth,  found  it  impossible  to 
invent  plots,  and  was  forced  to  borrow  the  fables  of  Aesop 
when  he  would  write  poetry. 

Again,  the  poets  falsify  intentionally  by  attributing  to 
the  gods  or  to  the  dead,  actions  which  are  untrue  to  their 
natures,  or  by  putting  faulty  moral  sentiments  in  the  mouths 
of  characters.  These  things  they  do  to  secure  emotional 
effects,  wherefore  one  must  not  surrender  himself  unduly  to 
the  influence  of  poetry,  but  must  remember  its  deceptive 
juggling,  and  bear  in  mind  that  the  poet  is  an  enchanter 
whose  magic  it  is  not  safe  to  trust. 

The  poets  also  falsify  unintentionally.  They  are  con- 
stantly giving  utterance  to  doctrines  which  are  vicious  and 
dangerous  in  their  tendencies,  such  as  the  doctrine  that  death 
is  pitiable,  and  the  want  of  burial  a  terrible  disaster.  The 
reason  for  this  is  that  since  his  productions  may  be  enter- 
taining and  convincing  without  much  heed  to  morality,  the 
poet  is  not  compelled  to  search  out  the  basic  ethical  truths. 

Returning  now  to  the  point  of  departure,  in  the  light  of 
this  chapter  there  is  little  trouble  in  understanding  what 
Plutarch  means  by  likeness,  truthfulness,  consistency,  repro- 
duction to  the  life,  and  naturalness.  Evidently  he  means 
nothing  more  than  that  poetry  reproduces  life  with  an 
acceptable  degree  of  probability.  There  is  no  hint  that 
poetry  unveils  the  lovely  figure  of  nature  in  her  essential 
truthfulness,  nature  which,  aside  from  poetry,  is  seen  only 
in  imperfect  outline.  Plutarch  thinks  poetry  less  truthful 
than  real  life,  because  it  is  concerned  with  what  has  never 
actually  taken  place.  He  fails  to  discriminate  between  actu- 
ality and  truth. 

Here  we  are  at  the  opposite  pole  from  Aristotle,  who 

25 


Plutarch's  Theory  of  Poetry 

conceived  of  poetry  as  more  truthful  than  history,  because 
free  to  present  life  as  it  ought  to  be,  life  as  it  would  be 
under  ideal  conditions,^  and  who  held  that  seriousness  is 
an  essential  quality  in  poetry,  since  such  action  as  reveals 
the  inner  significance  of  life  must  be  grave  and  great. 
To  the  following  words  in  the  above  passage:  'Since  now 
poetry  also  frequently  describes  base  actions,  and  unseemly 
emotions  and  characters,  the  youth  must  not  confound  their 
artistic  admirableness  and  success  with  truth,  or  rank  them 
as  beautiful,  but  is  to  praise  them  only  as  accurate  and  natu- 
ral likenesses  of  the  things  treated,'  Aristotle  would  probably 
have  rejoined:  'One  must  of  necessity  confound  artistic 
admirableness  with  truth,  for  there  can  be  no  artistic  excel- 
lence apart  from  truth;  you  cannot  present  an  accurate 
likeness  of  an  object  if  truth  be  absent,  else  your  likeness 
will  be  but  a  superficial  and  spiritless  semblance/ 

In  thus  failing  to  discriminate  between  actuality  and  truth, 
Plutarch  accords  with  Plato  in  his  idea  of  imitation.  How- 
ever, one  must  bear  in  mind  that  the  great  philosopher's 
implied  distinction  between  imitative  art  and  art  that  is  sin- 
cere finds  no  correspondence  in  Plutarch. 

If  poetry  does  not  express  truth  in  large  measure,  if  it 
is  not  based  upon  that  underlying  reality,  that  apx^,  which 
from  the  time  of  Thales  had  stood  to  the  Greeks  as  both 
beginning  and  end,  as  source  and  destiny,  whither  does  Plu- 
tarch turn  for  truth?  To  that  source  from  which  poetry 
has  derived  what  measure  of  truth  it  possesses,  namely,  phi- 

^  Of  the  relation  of  poetry  to  history,  Plutarch  writes  as  follows,  in 
the  opening  paragraph  of  the  Life  of  Theseus  :  'As  geographers,  Sosius, 
crowd  into  the  edges  of  their  maps  parts  of  the  world  which  they  do 
not  know  about,  adding  notes  in  the  margin  to  the  effect  that  beyond 
this  lies  nothing  but  sandy  deserts  full  of  wild  beasts,  unapproachable 
bogs,  Scythian  ice,  or  a  frozen  sea,  so,  in  this  work  of  mine,  in  which  I 
have  compared  the  lives  of  the  greatest  men  with  one  another,  after 
passing  through  those  periods  which  probable  reasoning  can  reach 
and  real  history  find  a  footing  in,  I  might  very  well  say  of  those  that  are 
farther  off:  Beyond  this  there  is  nothing  but  prodigies  and  fictions,  the 
only  inhabitants  are  the  poets  and  inventors  of  fables  ;  there  is  no 
credit  or  certainty  an)'^  farther.' 

26 


Plutarch's  Theory  of  Poetry 

losophy.  Philosophy  is  the  search  for  reahty;  it  is  the 
supreme  achievement  of  the  mind.^  With  philosophy, 
poetry,  being  relatively  independent  of  truth,  has  no  neces- 
sary connection.  To  be  sure,  poetry  may  be  measurably 
truthful,  may  be  infused  with  moral  feeling,  as  are  the  works 
of  Homer,  yet  it  is  none  the  less  poetry  if  it  be  false  and  a 
violation  of  moral  teaching,  as  is  much  dramatic  and  lyric 
poetry. 

Plutarch's  unrestricted  use  of  the  term  poetry  explains 
what  might  seem  endless  contradiction  in  his  writings.  Since 
poetry  is  so  inclusive  a  term,  embracing  indifferently  the 
bad  as  well  as  the  good,  he  can  entertain  Plato's  fears  lest 
poetry  mislead  and  injure  youth,  and,  on  the  other  hand, 
he  can  commend  the  Homeric  poems  as  the  formative  influ- 
ence in  the  life  of  his  favorite  hero,  Alexander.^     He  can 

^  See  Of  the  Training  of  Children  c.  x  :  'We  ought  to  make  philoso- 
phy the  chief  of  all  our  learning.  .  .  .  There  is  but  one  remedy  for  the 
distempers  of  the  mind,  and  that  is  philosophy.  For  by  the  advice  and 
assistance  thereof  it  is  that  we  come  to  understand  what  is  honest,  and 
what  dishonest  ;  what  is  just  and  what  unjust  ;  in  a  word,  what  we  are 
to  seek,  and  whatto  avoid.  We  learn  by  it  how  we  are  to  demean  our- 
selves towards  the  gods,  towards  our  parents,  our  elders,  the  laws, 
strangers,  governors,  friends,  wives,  children,  and  servants.  That  is, 
we  are  to  worship  the  gods,  to  honor  our  parents,  to  reverence  our 
elders,  to  be  subject  to  the  laws,  to  obey  our  governor,  to  love  our 
friends,  to  use  sobriety  towards  our  wives,  to  be  affectionate  to  our 
children,  and  not  to  treat  our  servants  insolently  ;  and,  which  is  the 
chiefest  lesson  of  all,  not  to  be  overjoyed  in  prosperity  nor  too  much 
dejected  in  adversity  ;  not  to  be  dissolute  in  our  pleasures,  nor  in  our 
anger  to  be  transported  with  brutish  rage  and  fury.  These  things  I 
account  the  principal  advantages  which  we  gain  by  philosophy.'  Of  the 
Fortune  or  Virtue  of  Alexander  the  Great,  Orat.  ii.  c.  xi :  '  And  for  my 
part,  I  know  not  how  to  give  a  greater  applause  to  the  action  of  Alexan- 
der, than  by  adding  the  word  philosophically,  for  in  that  word  all  other 
things  are  included.'  [These  translations  are  taken  from  the  Goodwin 
edition.] 

2  Of  the  Fortune  or  Virtue  of  Alexander  the  Great,  Orat.  ii.  c.  iv  : 
'  Then  again,  if  any  dispute  arose  or  judgment  were  to  be  given  upon 
any  of  Homer's  verses,  either  in  the  schools  or  at  meals,  this  that  fol- 
lows Alexander  always  preferred  above  the  rest  :  "  Both  a  good  king, 
and  far  renowned  in  war  (//.  iii.  179),"  believing  that  the  praise  which 

27 


Plutarch's  Theory  of  Poetry 

even  accept  the  Aristotelian  theory^  that  the  tragic  or  epic 
hero  should  be  a  man  of  noble  and  heroic  parts,  one  just 
enough  infected  with  passion  to  be  vulnerable,  for  he  says : 
Toetry  is  an  imitation  of  character  and  of  life,  and  of  men 
who  are  not  wholly  perfect,  pure,  and  blameless,  but  in 
some   degree   subject   to   passion,    error,   and   ignorance.'- 

If  now  we  summarize  this  discussion  of  Plutarch's  theory 
of  the  relation  of  poetry  to  nature  and  to  truth,  we  find  that 
he  merely  accepted  the  traditional  interpretation  of  the  techni- 
cal term,  imitation,  quite  failing  to  comprehend  the  peculiar 
significance  of  the  word  in  the  criticism  of  Aristotle,  and, 
further,  that  he  did  not  appreciate  the  distinction  which 
Plato  made  by  implication  between  imitative  and  true  poetry. 
As  the  result  of  so  crude  a  conception  of  this  significant 
term  in  aesthetics,  he  demanded  nothing  more  of  poetry  than 
that  it  reproduce  character,  emotion,  and  action  with  reason- 
able probability;  poetry  may  be  truthful,  but  truth  is  a 
fundamental  requisite  only  in  philosophy. 

There  remains  for  consideration  Plutarch's  theory  of  the 
end  of  poetry.  The  traditional  Greek  view  of  the  mission  of 
poetry  is  concretely  expressed  in  the  following  sentence 
from  Strabo :  *The  ancients  called  poetry  a  kind  of  elemen- 
tary philosophy,  which  introduces  us  to  life  while  we  are 
yet  youths,  and  teaches  character,  emotion,  and  action 
through  pleasure.'^  In  accordance  with  this  theory,  the 
poets,  especially  Homer,  were  taught  in  the  schools,  the  boys 
committing  choice  passages;  and,  as  we  know  from  St. 
Chrysostom,  this  custom  was  followed  among  the  Greeks 
even  as  late  as  the  fourth  century.*     That  this  traditional 

another  by  precedence  of  time  had  anticipated  was  to  be  a  law  also 
unto  himself,  and  saying  that  Homer  in  the  same  verse  had  extolled  the 
fortitude  of  Agamemnon  and  prophesied  of  Alexander.' 

^  Poet.  xiii.  2-3  ;  xv.  8.  ^  See  p.  74.  ^i.  2.  3. 

*  Orai.  xi.  p.  308  :  '  To  accept  this  inspired  and  wise  man  (Homer), 
and  to  teach  his  words  to  youth  even  from  infancy.'  See  also  Plato, 
Protagoras  326:  *  And  when  the  boy  has  learned  his  letters  and  is  begin- 
ning to  understand  what  is  written,  .  .  .  they  put  into  his  hands  the 
works  of  great  poets,  which  he  reads  at  school  ;  in  these  are  con- 
tained many  admonitions,  and  many  tales,  and  praises,  and  encomia  of 

28 


Plutarch's  Theory  of  Poetry 

and  persistent  theory  of  the  incidental  character  of  pleasure 
in  poetry  was  inherited  by  the  Romans  is  clear  from  passages 
in  Lucretius,  Horace,  and  other  writers.^ 

It  is  very  difficult  to  determine  just  how  far  Plato  departs 
from  this  accepted  theory  of  the  purpose  of  poetry.  The 
moral  bias  was  so  great  with  him  that  it  prevented  his  recog- 
nizing with  satisfactory  clearness  the  view  to  which  his  poetic 
sensitiveness  would  naturally  have  made  him  incline.  After 
he  has  declared  that  art  should  make  men  temperate,  brave, 
and  altogether  virtuous,^  he  yet  feels  that  all  has  not  been 
said,  and  he  is  ready  to  admit  that  the  excellence  of  art  may  be 
gauged  by  pleasure,  provided  it  is  the  kind  of  pleasure  that 
may  be  experienced  by  ^the  one  man  preeminent  in  virtue 
and  education,'^  for  'the  view  which  identifies  the  pleasant 
and  the  just  and  the  good  and  the  noble  has  an  excellent 
moral  and  religpious  tendency.'* 

ancient  famous  men,  which  he  is  required  to  learn  by  heart,  in  order 

that  he  may  imitate  or  emulate  them,  and  desire  to  become  like  them.' 

See  Isocrates,  Panegyricus  95  ;  Xenophon,  Symposium  iii.  5. 

^  Lucretius  i.  936  :     '  But  as  physicians,   when  they  attempt  to  give 

bitter  wormwood  to  children,  first  tinge  the  rim  round  the  cup  with  the 

sweet  and  yellow  liquid  of  honey,  that   the  age   of  childhood,  as  yet 

unsuspicious,  may  find  its  lips  deluded,  and  may  in  the  meantime  drink 

of  the  bitter  juice  of  the  wormwood,  and  though  deceived,  may  not  be 

injured,  but  rather,  being  recruited  by  such  a  process,   may  acquire 

strength;  so  now  I,  since  this  argument  seems  generally  too  severe  and 

forbidding  to  those  by  whom  it  has  not  been  handled,  and  since  the 

multitude  shrink  back  from  it,  was  desirous  to  set  forth  my  chain  of 

reasoning  to  thee,  O  Memmius,  in  sweetly-speaking  Pierian  verse,  and, 

as  it  were,  to  tinge  it  with  the  honey  of  the  Muses  ;  if  perchance,  by 

such  a  method,  I  might  detain  thy  attention  upon  my  strains,  until  thou 

lookest  through  the  whole  nature  of  things,  and  understandest  with  what 

shape  and  beauty  it  is  adorned.'    [Watson.]    See  Horace,  Art  of  Poetry 

333-334  : 

To  teach — to  please — comprise  the  poet's  views, 

Or  else  at  once  to  profit  and  amuse.     [Howes.] 

^  Laws  ii.  660.  ^Ibid.  659. 

*  Ibid.  663.     See  Pater,  Plato  and  Platonism  c.  x,  for  the  theory  that 

'art  for  art's   sake'  is  anticipated  by  Plato.     Pater  bases  his  opinion 

upon  this  passage  :  ^Ap'  ovv  koI  EKaary  ruv  texvuv  eari  ri  avfi^kpov  uXko 

^  bri  (laliGTa  reVeav  elvai ;  but  see  Saintsbury,  Hist,  of  Criticism  i.   2. 

17-19,  for  the  opposite  view. 

29 


Plutarch's  Theory  of  Poetry 

In  Aristotle  we  find  the  first  critic  who  declares  unquali- 
fiedly for  the  hedonistic  theory.  Pleasure  is,  indeed,  the  end 
of  fine  art,  for  the  subject  of  all  art  is  the  beautiful,  and 
the  beautiful  is  only  perfect  when  enjoyed.^  A  work  of  art 
is  excellent  in  proportion  as  it  furnishes  its  distinctive 
pleasure  to  the  man  of  good  taste,^  and  such  pleasure,  far 
from  being  vulgar,  is  noble  and  refined.  Pleasure  being  the 
end  of  fine  art,  the  standard  of  correctness  in  poetry  and 
ethics  is  therefore  not  the  same;  to  be  sure,  the  pleasure 
afforded  by  art  must  not  violate  moral  feeling,^  but  this  for 
aesthetic,  rather  than  for  moral,  reasons,  since  action  repre- 
sented in  poetry  in  which  the  moral  values  are  wanting  is  not 
correctly  delineated,  and  therefore  is  not  good  imitation.* 

Plutarch  nowhere  says  what  he  considers  the  end  of 
poetry  to  be,  if  indeed  it  ever  occurred  to  him  that  poetry 
in  itself  may  have  an  end.  However,  the  opening  and 
closing  chapters  of  the  essay  on  poetry  are  an  appeal  to 
those  having  charge  of  youth  so  to  direct  their  reading  that 
poetry  will  serve  the  end  of  introducing  them  to  philosophy. 
Poetry  should  be  the  fitting-school  for  philosophy,  the  vesti- 
bule to  its  temple;  it  should  'prepare  and  predispose  the 
young  man's  mind  to  the  teachings  of  philosophy,'  so  that, 
Without  prejudice,  he  may  advance  to  the  study  of  philoso- 
phy in  a  gracious,  friendly,  and  congenial  spirit.'^ 

Not  all  poetry,  however,  may  thus  be  turned  to  account, 
for  only  a  limited  number  of  poems  have  good  moral  influ- 
ence. Consequently  youth  must  be  taught  to  discriminate 
between  those  which  are  helpful  and  those  which  are 
harmful. 

Again,  lest  the  youth  fail  to  catch  the  moral  lessons  implied 
in  the  better  poetry,  the  teacher  must  by  example  encourage 
him  to  discover  parallelisms  between  poetry  and  philosophy, 
as  it  were  wedding  the  strength  of  the  one  to  the  beauty 
of  the  other.^ 

*  See  Erdmann,  J/tsL  of  Philosophy,  for  a  longer  discussion  of  the 
relation  of  beauty  and  pleasure  in  Aristotle. 

'^  Poet.  xxvi.  I.  7.  3  Ibid.  xiii.  2.  '*Ibid.  xxv.  19. 

'  See  pp.  95-96.  *  See  pp.  93-96. 

30 


■I 


Plutarch's  Theory  of  Poetry 

But  what  of  pleasure  ?  Plutarch  takes  it  for  granted  that 
all  poetry  furnishes  pleasure.^  Why,  then,  it  may  be  asked, 
is  not  pleasure  the  end  of  fine  art  ?  It  may  be  that  Plutarch 
thinks  it  is,  but,  in  that  case,  he  considers  it  an  unworthy 
end;  wherefore  poetry  should  be  turned  out  of  its  natural 
channel,  and  made  to  serve  an  artificial  end.  Pleasure  is  to 
be  regarded  as  a  sauce,  as  a  disguise  for  making  attractive 
doctrines  which,  stated  in  philosophical  and  serious  form, 
would  fail  to  interest  the  young.^ 

This  subordination  of  pleasure  is  by  no  means  an  easy 
matter,  and  the  temptation  to  read  for  the  sake  of  pleasure 
alone  is  great.  Consequently,  special  care  must  be  taken 
lest  one  yield  unduly  to  the  charms  of  poetry,  and  accept 
unawares  the  false  views  of  life  which  often  lie  concealed 
beneath  its  engaging  surface.^ 

Now,  having  discussed  the  differences  between  poetry  and 
prose,  the  relation  of  poetry  to  nature  and  to  truth,  and  the 
end  of  poetry,  the  various  conclusions  should  be  brought 
together  to  afford  a  synthetic  view  of  Plutarch's  theory  of  the 
art.  First,  poetry,  a  gift  of  rare  temperaments,  is  the  intelli- 
gent expression  of  strong  feeling  in  metrical  language; 
secondly,  it  does  .not  necessarily  bear  any  very  close  relation 
to  truth,  and  is  therefore  inferior  to  philosophy,  the  supreme 
study ;  finally,  the  element  of  pleasure  must  occupy  a  subor- 
dinate place  in  our  study  of  poetry,  for  poetry  is  to  be 
regarded  first  and  foremost  as  an  introduction  to  philosophy. 

If,  in  conclusion,  we  would  view  this  theory  of  poetry  in 
the  broader  light  of  Plutarch's  work  as  a  whole,  we  can  best 
do  so  through  the  comprehensive  summary  offered  by 
Professor  Christ:  'Finally,  to  sum  up  the  writings  and  the 
philosophy  of  our  author,  Plutarch  was  one  of  the  most 
accomplished,  most  amiable,  and  most  prolific  writers  of 
the  period  of  the  empire,  who,  through  his  astonishing 
acquaintance  with  books,  offers  us  invaluable  compensation 
for  the  many  and  great  losses  which  the  Greek  literature 
of  the  classical,  as  of  the  Alexandrian,  period  has  suffered. 

*  See  §§  i,  ii,  iii,  vii,  xiv.  ^  See  p.  49.  ^  See  §  i, 

31 


Plutarch's  Theory  of  Poetry 

But  he  was  not  simply  an  illustrious  connoisseur  of  classical 
literature  and  history,  for  he  had  also  appropriated  the  spirit 
of  genuine  humanity  and  Greek  culture,  and  turned  it  to 
account  in  word  and  deed.  In  him  with  broad  culture  and 
exalted  morality  were  joined  extreme  moderation  in  praise 
and  censure,  simple  candor,  and  an  optimistic  philosophy, 
which  together  make  the  reading  of  his  works  as  engaging 
as  it  is  elevating. 

'But  yet  these  qualities  are  not  enough  to  make  Plutarch 
a  Greek  of  the  age  of  Pericles.  The  vulgarity  of  the  times 
and  the  optimistic  tranquillity  of  his  nature  suffer  in  him 
no  high  aspirations  and  no  burning  zeal  for  independence. 
The  narrowness  of  his  ethical  creed  prevents  him  from 
appreciating  unfettered  originality  in  art  and  poetry,  and  his 
conservative  traditionalism  clouds  his  vision.  Not  only 
do  we  miss  logical  sequence  of  thought,  but  the  power 
of  creative  thought  as  well,  and  we  can  neither  praise  him 
as  a  critical  historian,  nor  as  an  original  philosopher,  nor, 
finally,  as  a  good  grammarian.  .  .  .  One  ventures  to 
call  him  the  classicist  of  the  time  of  the  empire,  and  yet  he 
is  far,  far  from  possessing  the  sincere  and  unadorned  grace 
and  the  creative  originality  of  the  classical  period.'^ 

^  Handbuch  d.  k.  A.  vii.  556. 


32 


THE   LIFE  OF  ST.   BASIL   AND  THE  ADDRESS  TO 
YOUNG    MEN 

The  Address  to  Young  Men  on  the  Right  Use  of  Greek 
Literature  is  not  the  anxious  admonition  of  a  bigoted  eccle- 
siastic, apprehensive  for  the  supremacy  of  the  Sacred  Writ- 
ings. Rather,  it  is  the  educational  theory  of  a  cultured  man, 
whose  familiarity  with  classical  learning  and  enthusiasm 
for  it  were  second  only  to  his  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures 
and  zeal  for  righteousness.  No  student  of  the  classics  in 
Christian  times  has  been  more  significantly  placed  for  esti- 
mating justly  the  peculiar  excellencies  and  defects  of  the 
Greek  learning,  and  no  other  scholar  has  written  with  a  truer 
perspective,  and  with  more  sanity,  large-mindedness,  and 
justice.  These  qualities  in  the  address  can  be  adequately 
appreciated  only  after  the  reader  has  become  acquainted 
with  the  remarkable  life  of  the  author. 

Moreover,  the  appreciation  of  the  address  demands  not 
only  that  its  pages  be  read  in  the  light  of  the  author's 
career,  but  also  that  the  place  of  the  essay  in  the  develop- 
ment of  ecclesiastical  philosophy  be  understood. 

Accordingly  the  following  pages  will  attempt  to  give,  first 
a  survey  of  the  life  of  Basil,  and  secondly,  a  review  of  the 
varieties  of  attitude  assumed  toward  classical  learning  by 
those  ecclesiastics  who  wrote  prior  to  the  time  of  Basil. 

St.  Basil  was  born  at  Caesarea  in  the  year  329,  in  a  home 
of  culture  and  piety.  His  father,  who  came  from  a  family 
which  had  stood  high  in  military  and  civic  affairs,  followed 
the  profession  of  rhetoric,  and  was  a  man  of  wealth  and  of 
public  spirit,  noted  for  his  benefactions.  His  grandmother 
Macrina,  and  mother  St.  Emmelia,  were  to  him  a  Lois  and 
a  Eunice,  and  trained  him  in  the  Holy  Scriptures  from  his 
infancy.  Thus  Basil  grew  up  in  an  atmosphere  of  gentle- 
ness, of  learning,  and  of  Christian  fervor.  It  is  a  sufficient 
comment  upon  this  home  life  that  of  the  ten  children  four 

33 


The  Life  of  St.  Basil 

became  saints,  St.  Macrina,  St.  Gregory  Nyssen,  St.  Peter, 
and  St.  Basil ;  that  three  became  bishops ;  and  that  St.  Basil 
is  one  of  thirteen  upon  whom  the  Catholic  Church  has  con- 
ferred the  title  of  Doctor  Ecclesiae. 

When  a  lad,  Basil  was  sent  to  Byzantium  to  study  under 
Libanius,  the  celebrated  rhetorician  and  sophist,  then  at  the 
height  of  his  popularity.  Under  this  teacher  the  youth  was 
trained  in  the  felicities  of  Greek  expression,  and  from  him 
derived  that  love  for  Greek  literature  which  led  him,  at  the 
age  of  twenty-one,  to  seek  the  refined  atmosphere  of  Athens, 
the  centre  of  learning,  and  the  home  of  arts  and  letters.  To 
this  city  resorted  the  most  promising  young  men  of  Europe 
and  Asia,  and  there  they  devoted  themselves  to  the  acquisi- 
tion of  learning  with  an  intensity  which  rivaled  the  most 
flourishing  days  of  the  schools  at  Alexandria. 

Basil  was  welcomed  to  Athens  by  a  Cappadocian  youth 
who  had  himself  but  just  arrived,  Gregory  Nazianzen,  and 
the  two  young  men  soon  became  fast  friends.  They  were 
well  adapted  to  each  other,  for  the  judicial  exactness  of 
Basil,  and  his  poise — one  might  almost  say  his  melancholy — 
were  happily  complemented  by  Gregory's  intellectual  bril- 
liancy, and  his  liveliness  of  disposition.  Of  this  friendship 
Gregory  wrote  as  follows :  Tt  was  one  soul  which  had  two 
bodies.  Eloquence,  the  most  inspiring  pursuit  in  the  world, 
incited  us  to  an  equal  ardor,  yet  without  creating  any  jeal- 
ousy whatever.  We  lived  in  each  other.  We  knew  but  two 
walks :  the  first  and  dearest,  that  which  led  to  the  church 
and  its  teachers;  the  other,  less  exalted,  which  led  to  the 
school  and  its  masters.'     [Orat.  43.] 

A  third  young  man  who  shared  to  some  extent  in  this 
friendship  was  Julian,  the  cousin  of  Constantius  II,  then  a 
scholarly  recluse  and  a  Christian,  but  soon  to  become 
emperor  and  an  apostate. 

Within  a  very  short  time,  their  attainments  in  scholarship 
and  their  remarkable  ability  as  public  speakers  gave  Basil 
and  Gregory  an  enviable  reputation,  not  only  in  Athens 
itself,  but  in  every  other  city  where  learning  was  fostered. 

34 


The  Life  of  St.  Basil 

After  five  years  spent  in  Athens,  and  when  he  was  giving 
every  promise  of  an  exceptional  career,  Basil  suddenly  an- 
nounced his  purpose  to  leave  the  city ;  he  had  been  coming  to 
feel  that,  with  all  of  its  learning,  Athens  laid  emphasis  upon 
the  less  essential  things,  that,  as  he  expressed  it,  'life  there  was 
hollow  blessedness/  In  this  feeling  Gregory  to  some  extent 
shared,  and  accordingly  decided  to  leave  with  his  friend. 
When  the  day  of  departure  arrived,  companions  and  even 
teachers  crowded  around  and  besought  them  to  stay,  even 
offering  violence ;  but  although  they  prevailed  for  the  time 
upon  the  more  yielding  Gregory,  Basil  was  resolute,  and 
retired  to  Caesarea. 

For  a  short  period  he  practiced  law  in  his  native  city, 
yet,  despite  his  brilliant  debut,  his  heart  was  not  in  his  work, 
and  he  decided  to  escape  from  business  cares  and  renounce 
the  world.  Accordingly,  that  he  might  determine  what  kind 
of  retirement  would  prove  most  agreeable,  'he  traveled  over 
much  sea  and  land,'^  and  visited  the  hermits  in  Egypt,  Syria, 
and  Asia  Minor.  On  his  return  he  sought  out  a  wild  and 
beautiful  retreat  in  Pontus,  where,  surrounded  by  lofty 
crags,  a  mountain  stream  tossing  and  leaping  near  by,  and 
a  lovely  plain  spread  out  beneath,  he  erected  a  monastery, 
and  established  a  brotherhood.     This  was  in  358. 

For  four  years  he  led  here  a  serene  and  joyous  life,  devoted 
to  prayer  and  psalmody,  the  study  of  the  inspired  writers, 
and  peaceful  labor.  In  the  course  of  time  he  experienced 
the  pleasure  of  a  visit  from  his  beloved  friend,  and  years 
later  Gregory  drew  a  charming  picture  of  those  happy  days, 
in  which  he  recalled  with  equal  pleasure  the  songs  of  praise 
in  the  rustic  chapel,  and  the  little  plane-tree  which  he  had 
planted  with  his  own  hands. ^ 

Occasionally  Basil  left  his  retreat  to  preach  to  the  country 
people,  or  to  perform  deeds  of  mercy,  as  when,  for  example, 
in  the  course  of  a  famine  he  sold  his  lands  to  provide  bread 
for  the  starving  inhabitants  of  the  province.  It  was  charac- 
teristic of  the  man  that  Jews,  pagans,  and  Christians  were 
treated  with  equal  consideration. 

'  Epistle  204.  *  Epistle  6. 

35 


The  Life  of  St.  Basil 

But  this  attractive  life  was  not  allowed  to  be  permanent, 
for  Basil  was  summoned  to  Constantinople  to  aid  the  bishop 
of  Ancyrus  in  his  struggle  with  Eunomius,  the  new  and 
forceful  exponent  of  the  Arian  heresy.  Henceforth  he  was 
never  long  absent  from  public  life. 

In  362  occurred  an  event  which  occasioned  bitter  enmity 
between  Basil  and  Gregory  and  their  college  friend  Julian, 
and  threatened  great  injury  to  the  cause  of  the  church. 
Julian,  then  emperor,  had  invited  Basil  to  Rome,  and  he 
was  preparing  to  embark,  when  word  was  received  that  upon 
the  standards  of  the  army  the  cross  of  Christ  had  been 
replaced  by  the  images  of  the  gods.  Basil  correctly  inter- 
preted this  as  indicative  of  apostasy,  and  refused  to  have 
any  further  intercourse  with  the  Emperor.  Julian  was 
greatly  angered,  and  in  retaliation  decreed  that  the  study  of 
the  classics  should  be  denied  to  Christians.  These  were  his 
haughty  and  ironical  words :  Tor  us  are  the  eloquence  and 
the  arts  of  the  Greeks,  and  the  worship  of  the  gods;  for 
you,  ignorance  and  rusticity,  and  nothing  else,  I  fear;  so, 
your  wisdom.^^  This  was  indeed  bitter  revenge,  for  the 
Church  had  found  her  hold  upon  classical  learning  the  most 
effective  weapon  against  the  pagans.  The  indignation  of 
Gregory  gives  some  idea  of  the  consternation  which  this 
decree  occasioned,  and  of  the  value  which  he  and  his  friend 
placed  upon  classical  learning:  T  forego  all  the  rest,  riches, 
birth,  honor,  authority,  and  all  goods  here  below  of  which 
the  charm  vanishes  like  a  dream ;  but  I  cling  to  oratory,  nor 
do  I  regret  the  toil,  nor  the  journeys  by  land  and  sea,  which 
I  have  undertaken  to  master  it.'^ 

This  announcement  promised  to  be  but  the  beginning  of 
a  series  of  persecutions,  but  death  providentially  cut  short 
the  career  of  Julian  in  363. 

In  the  following  year  Basil  was  ordained  priest  by  Euse- 
bius,  bishop  of  Caesarea,  but  the  fame  which  his  sermons 
upon  the  death  of  Julian  secured  for  the  young  priest  aroused 

'  Villemain,  IS  Eloquence  ChrMenne  au  Quatrieme  Siecle  io6. 
2  Migne,  Pair.  Graec.  xxxv.  636. 

36 


The  Life  of  St.  Basil 

the  jealousy  of  the  bishop,  and  Basil  retired  to  Pontus. 
However,  by  his  modest  conduct  he  succeeded  in  regaining 
the  friendship  of  Eusebius,  and  after  three  years  was  recalled 
to  help  check  the  Arian  heresy.  His  learning,  his  ability 
as  an  orator,  and  his  fearless  but  gentle  conduct,  all  fitted 
him  for  such  a  task. 

In  370,  despite  much  bitter  opposition,  not  simply  on  the 
part  of  strangers,  but  from  his  own  uncle  as  well,  Basil 
was  raised  to  the  episcopate  of  Caesarea.  The  task  which 
devolved  upon  him  as  bishop  was  to  cultivate  a  spirit  of  har- 
mony and  of  whole-hearted  service  among  his  clergy,  and, 
both  in  his  own  province  and  indirectly  in  the  neighboring 
provinces,  to  cherish  the  orthodox  faith  as  outlined  in  the 
Nicene  creed. 

In  many  respects  this  was  the  most  trying  period  in  the 
history  of  the  early  Church.  Christians  were  no  longer 
called  upon  to  be  martyrs,  as  had  been  the  case  a  century 
before,  but  the  wealth  and  prestige  to  which  the  Church  had 
attained  was  impairing  that  simplicity  which  had  made  the 
Church  of  the  first  centuries  so  effective.  As  a  result,  many 
selfish  and  ambitious  men  were  attracted  to  ecclesiastical 
service,  and  it  was  more  difficult  for  even  an  unselfish 
man  to  lead  a  godly  life.  Moreover,  the  Church  was  divided 
into  many  warring  factions,  such  as  the  Arians,  the  Semi- 
Arians,  and  the  Sabellians,  the  Arians  being  especially  deter- 
mined and  overbearing,  because  they  had  gained  the  sup- 
port of  the  emperor  Valens.  It  is  to  the  glory  of  Basil  that 
at  such  a  time  he  stood  for  the  Apostolic  ideals. 

Immediately  upon  the  assumption  of  his  new  office  Basil 
set  about  gaining  the  good  will  and  allegiance  of  those  of  the 
clergy  who  had  opposed  his  election.  This  work  was  pro- 
gressing with  reasonable  expedition,  when  suddenly  he  was 
confronted  by  the  emperor  himself  and  commanded  to 
renounce  the  orthodox  faith.  This  Basil  flatly  refused  to 
do,  and  the  cowardly  Valens  was  awed  into  admiration. 
Henceforth  Basil  had  nothing  to  fear  from  imperial  inter- 
vention, and  yet,  because  most  of  the  other  bishops  of  the 

37 


The  Life  of  St.  Basil 

East  had  complied  with  the  emperor's  demands,  the  task  of 
supporting  the  true  faith  was  rendered  correspondingly 
more  difficult.  The  Arians  opposed  him  at  every  turn,  and, 
what  was  harder  to  bear,  the  Sabellians  misinterpreted  his 
motives  in  trying  to  win  back  the  Semi-Arians  to  the  true 
faith  by  mildness  and  sympathy,  and  accused  him  of  heresy. 
Even  some  of  those  who  professed  the  orthodox  belief,  and 
who  should  have  supported  him  in  his  heroic  efforts  to 
preserve  the  integrity  of  the  faith,  misunderstood  him,  and, 
most  distressing  of  all,  his  lifelong  friend  Gregory  accused 
him  of  attempting  to  turn  their  friendship  to  selfish  ends. 
Lastly,  even  the  Pope  and  the  bishops  of  the  West  turned  a 
deaf  ear  to  his  appeals  for  help.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  a 
body  already  weakened  by  asceticism  and  wasted  by  disease 
gave  way  in  this  unequal  struggle? 

Basil  did  not  live  to  behold  the  triumph  of  the  Catholic 
faith.  He  saw  but  the  dark  hour  before  the  dawn.  And 
yet  he  was  victorious,  victorious  because  he  kept  the  rank 
and  file  of  the  Church  in  Cappadocia  true  to  the  faith  of  the 
fathers.  The  simple  folk  who  hungered  and  thirsted  after 
righteousness  loved  and  followed  him,  attracted  by  his  aus- 
tere living,  the  sweetness  and  integrity  of  his  character,  his 
singleness  of  purpose,  and  his  high  thoughts.  Small  wonder 
that  this  was  so,  for  even  when  oppressed  with  the  duties 
of  his  high  office  and  broken  in  body,  he  frequently  stole 
away  to  be  with  these  simple  people,  to  comfort  them  in  their 
afflictions,  and  to  teach  them,  in  sermons  which  delight  us 
to-day  equally  by  their  Hebraic  fervor  and  their  classical 
form  and  idiom,  to  behold  God  in  his  handiwork.  Listen 
as  he  points  out  to  them  the  glory  of  the  heavens :  *  There 
is  our  ancient  native  seat,  from  which  the  murderous  demon 
has  cast  us  down.  If  things  created  for  time  are  so  grand, 
what  will  be  the  things  of  eternity?  If  things  visible  are 
so  beautiful,  what  will  be  the  invisible?  If  the  immensity 
of  the  skies  surpasses  the  measure  of  human  thought,  what 
intelligence  can  fathom  the  depths  of  eternity?  If  this  eye 
of  nature,  which  so  adorns  it,  this  sun,  which,  though  perish- 

38 


The  Address  to  Young  Men 

able,  is  yet  so  beautiful,  so  rapid  in  movement,  so  well 
adapted  in  size  to  the  world,  offers  us  an  inexhaustible  theme 
for  contemplation,  what  will  be  the  beauty  of  the  sun  of 
divine  righteousness  ?'^ 

Or  again :  'If  the  ocean  is  beautiful  and  worthy  of  praise 
to  God,  how  much  more  beautiful  is  the  conduct  of  this 
Christian  assembly,  where  the  voices  of  men,  women,  and 
children,  blended  and  sonorous  like  the  waves  that  break 
upon  the  beach,  rise  amidst  our  prayers  to  the  very  presence 
of  God!'2     _  ,     ^ 

Basil's  death  occurred  on  January  ist,  279,  when  he  was 
but  fifty  years  of  age.  Like  many  another  valiant  soldier 
of  the  Cross,  he  died  with  these  words  upon  his  lips :  'Into 
thy  hands  I  commend  my  spirit/  The  scene  at  his  funeral 
was  an  impressive  one.  The  entire  province  was  given 
over  to  grief,  and  pagans  and  Jews  united  with  Christians 
in  their  lamentations.  As  the  funeral  procession  advanced, 
many  perished  in  their  desire  to  approach  the  coffin,  but 
they  were  accounted  happy  to  die  on  such  a  day,  and  the 
people  called  them  the  funeral  victims. 

So  lived  and  died  this  scholar  and  man  of  God. 

Let  us  now  turn  from  the  life  of  St.  Basil  to  a  brief  con- 
sideration of  the  Address  to  Young  Men  in  relation  to  the 
attitude  assumed  by  earlier  ecclesiastics  toward  Greek  learn- 
ing. 

If  we  condense  the  thought  of  the  essay  into  the  fewest 
words,  the  result  is  something  as  follows:  While  classi- 
cal philosophy,  oratory,  and  poetry  even  at  their  best  do 
not  reveal  the  truth  with  absolute  accuracy,  they  yet  reflect 
it  as  in  a  mirror;  the  truth  may  be  seen  face  to  face  only 
in  the  Scriptures,  yet  it  is  possible  in  the  pagan  writings  to 
trace,  as  it  were,  its  silhouette.  Accordingly,  for  those  who 
are  not  yet  prepared  for  the  strong  meat  of  the  Scriptures, 
the  study  of  Greek  literature  is  a  valuable  preparatory  course. 

This  is  virtually  the  attitude  taken  toward  classical  learn- 

^Migne,  Pair.  Graec.  29.  ii8-iig.  'Ibid.  29.  94. 

39 


The  Address  to  Young  Men 

ing  by  several  of  the  early  Church  writers,  and,  there- 
fore a  survey  of  so  much  of  the  ecclesiastical  philosophy  as 
concerns  Greek  poetry  and  philosophy  will  help  to  establish 
the  antecedents  of  Basil's  essay. 

It  was  inevitable  that,  when  Christianity  came  in  contact 
with  the  speculative  genius  of  the  Greeks  and  the  Oriental 
pantheistic  naturalism,  there  should  be  an  effort  to  advance 
from  Christian  faith  to  Christian  knowledge,  and  to  discover 
a  philosophic  basis  for  the  teachings  of  the  Holy  Scriptures. 
This  first  effort  was  made  by  the  so-called  Gnostics,  who 
exerted  their  greatest  influence  in  the  middle  of  the  second 
century.  The  Hellenic  Gnostics  attempted  to  employ  the 
writings  of  the  Greek  philosophers  to  explain  the  Scriptures, 
but  the  many  perplexing  questions  which  they  strove  to 
answer  soon  led  them  as  far  away  from  the  doctrines  of 
Plato  as  from  those  of  Paul.  Beginning  with  the  attempt 
to  discover  the  allegorical  significance  of  the  Scriptures, 
Gnosticism  ended  in  mere  chimerical  speculation,  in  mysti- 
cism, mythology,  and  theosophy.  It  exerted  little  perma- 
nent influence,  and  by  the  time  of  Basil  was  no  longer  a  force 
in  religious  controversy. 

Contemporaneously  with  the  flourishing  of  Gnosticism, 
however,  wrote  Justin  Martyr,  who  influenced  very  much  the 
ecclesiastical  writers  of  the  East  during  the  third  and  fourth 
centuries.  As  a  young  man  Justin  made  a  thorough  study 
of  the  Greek  philosophy,  being  especially  attracted  to  the 
writings  of  Plato  and  of  the  Stoics,  but  as  he  grew  older  his 
admiration  for  the  fortitude  of  the  Christians,  and  for  their 
sublime  faith — an  admiration  which  was  intensified  by  his 
growing  distrust  in  the  sovereignty  of  human  reason — led 
him  to  embrace  Christianity.  Henceforth  he  was  the  cham- 
pion of  the  new  religion.  This,  however,  was  not  at  the 
expense  of  Greek  philosophy,  for  his  breadth  of  view  enabled 
him  to  recognize  the  worth  both  of  the  profane  and  of  the 
Sacred  Writings. 

Justin  bases  his  philosophy  upon  the  Logos  of  John's 
Gospel.     Wherever  truth  is  found,  it  is  an  expression  of  the 

40 


The  Address  to  Young  Men 

divine  Logos ;  Plato,  Homer,  Pythagoras,  and  Solon  received 
partial  revelations  of  it,  and  indeed  it  reveals  itself  some- 
what to  every  man,  though  the  one  perfect  and  complete 
revelation  is  Christ,  who  is  the  Logos  incarnate. 

For  our  present  purpose  we  need  observe  in  detail  only 
that  phase  of  Justin's  philosophy  which  is  concerned  with 
classical  literature.  Greek  philosophy  and  poetry  are  to 
be  esteemed  highly,  because,  to  an  unusual  degree,  they 
express  the  divine  revelation.  Not  only  did  such  men  as 
Homer  and  Plato  experience  revelations  of  the  truth,  but 
they  were  also  familiar  with  the  teachings  of  Moses,  and 
indeed  with  all  of  the  Old  Testament.  Such  doctrines  in 
Plato  as  eternal  punishment,  the  immortality  of  the  soul, 
and  the  freedom  of  the  will,  were  borrowed  from  the  early 
Jewish  books.^ 

Of  the  other  four  prominent  apologists  of  the  second 
century,  Tatian,  Hermas,  and  Theophilus  condemn  and  ridi- 
cule Greek  philosophy,  and  Athenagoras  assumes  an  atti- 
tude similar  to  that  of  Justin.  Tatian,  who  was  an  Assy- 
rian, abused  all  things  Greek  with  barbaric  severity,^ 
Hermas  wrote  an  Abuse  of  the  Pagan  Philosophers,  and 
Theophilus  called  the  doctrines  of  the  Greek  philosophers 
foolishness.^  Athenagoras,  on  the  other  hand,  esteemed  the 
Greek  philosophers,  and  quoted  them  in  support  of  the  unity 
of  God,  a  truth  which  he  believed  the  Spirit  had  revealed 
to  them  despite  the  prevailing  polytheism  of  their  country.* 

The  closing  years  of  the  second  century  and  the  first  half 
of  the  third  were  engrossed  in  the  controversy  which  the 
Gnostics  had  aroused.  Anti-Gnosticism  found  its  most 
spirited  champion  in  Tertullian,  the  foremost  Latin  ecclesi- 
astical writer  of  the  early  centuries.  Tertullian  believed  that 
Christianity  alone  possessed  the  truth,  that  philosophy  was 
the  source  of  all  heresies,  and  that  Plato  and  other  Greek 
philosophers,  though  they  had  stolen  certain  isolated  truths 

'  See  Apology  i.  44  ;  Cohortatio  ad  Graecos  14. 

''■  See  Oratio  ad  Graecos  2.  ^  See  Ad  Autolyctis  i.  ii.  iii. 

^  See  Supplicatio  v. 

41 


The  Address  to  Young  Men 

from  Moses,  which  they  arrogated  to  themselves,  were 
exponents  of  falsehood.  So  extreme  was  his  antipathy  to 
philosophy  that  he  eventually  declared:  Credo  quia  absur- 
dum  est. 

On  the  other  hand  Clement  of  Alexandria  and  his  pupil, 
Origen,  the  founder  of  the  school  to  which  Basil,  Gregory 
Nyssen,  and  Gregory  Nazianzen  adhered,  endeavored  to 
separate  the  true  from  the  false  in  Gnosticism.  Both  of 
them  laid  much  stress  upon  the  value  of  Greek  philosophy. 

Ueberweg  gives  the  following  comprehensive  digest  of 
Clement's  views  concerning  the  relation  of  the  pagan  writ- 
ings to  the  Scriptures :  'Clement  adopts  the  view  of  Justin, 
that  to  Christianity,  as  the  whole  truth,  the  conceptions  of 
ante-Christian  times  are  opposed,  not  as  mere  errors,  but  as 
partial  truths.  The  divine  Logos,  which  is  everywhere 
poured  out,  like  the  light  of  the  sun  (Stromata  v.  3),  enlight- 
ened the  souls  of  men  from  the  beginning.  It  instructed  the 
Jews  through  Moses  and  the  prophets  (Paedagogus  i.  7). 
Among  the  Greeks,  on  the  contrary,  it  called  forth  wise  men, 
and  gave  them,  through  the  mediation  of  the  lower  angels, 
whom  the  Logos  had  appointed  to  be  shepherds  of  the 
nations  (Strom,  vii.  2),  philosophy  as  a  guide  to  righteous- 
ness (Strom,  i.  5;  vi.  5).  Like  Justin,  Clement  maintains 
that  the  philosophers  took  much  of  their  doctrine  secretly 
from  the  Orientals,  and,  in  particular,  from  the  religious 
books  of  the  Jews,  which  doctrine  they  then,  from  desire  of 
renown,  falsely  proclaimed  as  the  result  of  their  own  inde- 
pendent investigations,  besides  falsifying  and  corrupting  it 
(Strom,  i.  i.  17;  Paed.  ii.  i).  Yet  some  things  pertaining 
to  true  doctrine  were  really  discovered  by  the  Greek  philoso- 
phers, by  the  aid  of  the  seed  of  the  divine  Logos  implanted 
in  them  (Cohortatio  vi.  59).  Plato  was  the  best  of  the 
Greek  philosophers  (6  Trdvra  apLo-ros  HXaToiv,  ....  olov 
Oeo<l}opovfi€vo?,  Paed.  iii.  ii;  Strom,  v.  8).  The  Chris- 
tian must  choose  out  that  which  is  true  in  the  writings  of 
the  different  philosophers,  i.  e.,  whatever  agrees  with  Chris- 
tianity (Strom,  i.  7;  vi.  17).     We  need  the  aid  of  philoso- 


42 


The  Address  to  Young  Men 

phy  in  order  to  advance  from  faith  (7rt<rTt9)  to  knowledge 
(yvwo-ts).  The  Gnostic  is  to  him  who  merely  believes 
without  knowing  as  the  grown-up  man  to  the  child ;  having 
outgrown  the  fear  of  the  Old  Testament,  he  has  arrived  at 
a  higher  stage  of  the  divine  plan  of  man's  education.  Who- 
ever will  attain  to  Gnosis  without  philosophy,  dialectic,  and 
the  study  of  nature,  is  like  him  who  expects  to  gather  grapes 
without  cultivating  the  grapevine  (Strom,  i.  9).  But  the 
criterion  of  true  science  must  always  be  the  harmony  of  the 
latter  with  faith  (Strom,  ii.  4).'^ 

Of  Origen,  who  was  the  last  ecclesiastical  philosopher  of 
influence  in  the  Eastern  church  prior  to  the  fourth  century, 
it  is  enough  to  say  that  he  assumed  the  same  attitude  toward 
the  Greek  writers  as  did  his  master. 

One  who  has  read  Basil's  essay  will  readily  appreciate  the 
similarity  between  the  views  of  Basil  and  those  of  Justin, 
Athenagoras,  Clement,  and  Origen.  The  chapters  in  the 
essay  might  almost  be  arranged  as  expositions  of  the  various 
elements  in  the  above  digest  from  Clement's  writings. 
There  is  the  same  belief  in  the  partial  inspiration  of  the 
Greek  poets  and  philosophers,  the  same  advocacy  of  the 
study  of  Hellenic  literature  as  an  introduction  to  the  study 
of  Christianity,  the  common  credence  in  the  indebtedness 
of  Plato  and  other  philosophers  to  Moses  and  the  Prophets, 
and  the  like  insistence  upon  life  as  a  growth,  and  upon 
knowledge  as  the  complement  of  faith. 

To  summarize  this  brief  review :  For  at  least  two  centuries 
before  Basil  wrote  his  Address  to  Young  Men  on  the  Right 
Use  of  Greek  Literature  efforts  had  been  made  to  determine 
the  true  relation  between  Greek  learning  and  Christianity. 
Some  writers  bitterly  opposed  Hellenic  philosophy  and 
poetry,  others  recognized  that  it  contained  a  partial  revela- 
tion of  the  truth.  To  the  latter  view  Justin  and  his  follow- 
ers inclined,  and  among  these  followers  one  of  the  most 
pronounced  is  Basil. 

*  Hist  of  Philosophy  i.  314. 


43 


HOW  A  YOUNG  MAN  SHOULD  STUDY 
POETRY 


OUTLINE 

I.  General  introduction.  Poetry  renders  philosophy 
attractive  to  young  men ;  therefore,  even  though  it  embraces 
things  bad  as  well  as  good,  it  is  to  be  studied,  and  the  youth 
is  to  exercise  his  judgment  in  discriminating  between  true 
and  false  ideas. 

II.  Introductory  principle.  Poets  deceive,  sometimes 
wittingly,  sometimes  unwittingly;  wittingly,  by  the  use  of 
invented  plots,  dramatic  devices,  and  characters  who  live  or 
speak  untruthfully;  unwittingly,  by  giving  expression  to 
erroneous,  though  sincere,  ideas. 

III.  Again,  poetry  is  an  imitative  art,  and  the  imitation 
is  good  or  bad  according  as  the  object  is  faithfully  or 
unfaithfully  reproduced. 

IV.  The  young  man  is  to  observe  whether  the  poet 
indicates  his  own  attitude  toward  the  words  and  acts  of 
his  characters ;  the  poet  may  do  this  by  embodying  his  own 
explanations  in  the  context,  or  he  may  make  his  characters 
pass  judgment  upon  one  another,  or  he  may  teach  his  lessons 
by  the  fate  which  attends  his  characters.  Further,  dis- 
gusting speeches  which  for  any  reason  are  not  refuted  in  the 
context  may  be  canceled  by  contradictory  sentiments  from 
the  same  author;  if  this  cannot  be  done,  then  by  contradic- 
tory sentiments  from  other  authors. 

V.  The  youth  is  to  study  the  phrasing  in  order  to  get 
the  exact  meaning  of  a  passage. 

VI.  He  is  to  study  a  word  which  admits  of  more  than 
one  interpretation,  as  aperi;,  evSaifxovLa,  in  order  to  discover 
in  just  what  sense  it  is  used. 

VII.  Certain  principles  from  Aristotle.  The  effective- 
ness of  poetry  as  an  imitative  art  lies  in  probability,  and  in 
likeness   to   reality.     Consequently,   to   secure  variety  and 

47 


How  to  Study  Poetry 

complication,  reversals  of  fortune  are  employed,  and  these 
necessitate  characters  capable  of  error. 

VIII.  Therefore  the  youth  must  not  accept  unchallenged 
the  Vords  of  a  character,  nor  put  his  stamp  of  approval  on 
all,  but  must  boldly  and  confidently  distinguish  between  the 
good  and  bad  acts  of  a  man. 

IX.  It  is  most  important  to  inquire  the  poet's  reason  for 
every  utterance ;  if  this  is  not  done,  the  young  man  will  be 
victimized  by  absurd  and  vicious  declarations. 

X.  He  should  not  overlook  the  half-hidden  excellencies 
in  a  poem,  such  as  the  difference  between  the  actions  of  a 
gentleman  and  of  a  boor  in  similar  situations,  or  between  the 
conduct  of  Greeks  and  of  barbarians. 

XI.  While  one  reads  poetry  to  cull  the  flowers  of  his- 
tory, and  another  to  enjoy  the  beauty  of  the  diction,  the  lover 
of  honor  and  virtue  should  read  it  to  dwell  upon  examples  of 
manliness,  temperance,  and  justice. 

XII.  Passages  which  look  very  suspicious  from  one 
point  of  view,  may  contain  good  lessons  if  viewed  from 
another;  but  if  they  allow  of  no  good  interpretation, 
what  hinders  us  from  so  altering  the  thought  that  it  may 
conform  to  our  ideas  ? 

XIII.  Generalizations  are  not  to  be  confined  to  the  one 
specific  thing  to  which  they  are  at  first  applied  by  the  poet, 
but  should  be  transferred  to  other  things  of  a  like  character; 
this  will  help  young  men  to  become  familiar  with  truth, 
and  so  teach  them  self-control  and  generosity. 

XIV.  The  refined  and  helpful  sentiments  found  in 
poetry  should  be  strengthened  by  comparison  with  the  teach- 
ings of  philosophy.  Indeed,  if  we  wed  poetry  to  philosophy 
we  rob  it  of  its  fictitious  element  and  lend  it  seriousness. 

Conclusion.  Young  men  need  to  be  guided  in  their  read- 
ing, in  order  that  their  study  of  poetry  may  serve  as  the 
natural  and  pleasing  introduction  to  philosophy. 


48 


HOW   A  YOUNG  MAN   SHOULD  STUDY   POETRY 


Whether  or  not,  Marcus  Sedatus,  the  saying  of  Philoxe- 
nus^  the  poet  be  true,  that  the  most  savory  meat  and  fish 
are  those  which  are  not  meat  and  fish  at  all,  we  would 
leave  to  the  judgment  of  those  to  whom  Cato  said  that 
their  palates  were  more  sensitive  than  their  hearts.  But  a 
statement  that  strikes  me  as  admitting  of  no  controversy  is, 
that  very  young  men  enjoy  the  most  those  philosophical 
precepts  which  are  not  delivered  in  philosophical  and  seri- 
ous form,  and  that  such  they  accept  and  adopt.  For  not 
only  the  fables  of  Aesop  and  the  fictions  of  poets,  but 
the  Abaris  of  Heraclides^  and  Ariston's^  Lyco,  and,  if 
they  are  embodied  in  fiction,  the  doctrines  relating  to  the 
soul,  are  read  with  keen  zest  from  cover  to  cover.  Where- 
fore not  only  are  they  to  observe  due  moderation  in  the 
pleasures  of  eating  and  drinking,  but  still  further  in  their 
hearing  and  reading  must  they  become  accustomed  to 
indulge  in  pleasure  merely  as  a  relish,*  and  to  seek  for  the 
useful  and  the  wholesome.  For  barred  gates  do  not  secure 
a  city  if  a  single  entrance  is  open  to  the  enemy,  nor  does 
continence  in  the  pleasures  of  the  other  senses  save  a  youth 
if  he  unwittingly  betrays  himself  through  the  ear.     And  the 

^  Dithyrambic  poet  (435-380  B.C.)  of  Cythera.  T^e  Banquet,  frag- 
ments of  which  survive,  gives  an  account  of  the  luxury  of  the  Sicilian 
table. 

*  Learned  author,  born  probably  378  B.C.,  who  studied  under  Plato 
and  Aristotle,  accepted  the  Pythagorean  philosophy,  and  wrote  on 
philosophy,  natural  science,  mathematics,  music,  grammar,  history  and 
poetry. 

2  Stoic  philosopher,  about  275  B.C.,  who  taught  at  Athens.  Ariston 
maintained  that  the  chief  good  consists  in  indifference  to  everything 
except  virtue  and  vice. 

*  See  Introduction,  pp.  29-31  and  notes. 

49 


How  to  Study  Poetry 

better  his  grasp  of  the  products  of  thought  and  reason,  the 
more,  if  care  be  not  taken,  is  he  injured  and  corrupted.^ 

Since  now  it  is  not  possible,  nor  perhaps  desirable,  to 
prevent  young  men  of  the  size  of  my  Soclarus  and  your 
Cleandrus  from  reading  the  poets,  let  us  keep  a  very  careful 
watch  over  them,  as  they  have  more  need  of  guidance  in 
their  reading  than  in  their  walks.  Accordingly  it  occurred 
to  me  to  send  you  in  writing  the  discourse  concerning 
poetry  which  I  had  occasion  to  deliver  recently.  Please  run 
through  it  yourself ;  and  if  you  find  it  worth  at  least  as  much 
as  the  so-called  amethyst-plant,  which  some  men  wear  in 
their  drinking-bouts  as  a  charm  against  drunkenness,  then 
hand  it  to  Cleandrus,  and  thus  charm  him  betimes,  making 
sure  of  his  tastes  and  affections;  they  will  prove  the  more 
tractable  to  such  an  appeal,  since  the  boy  is  no  dunce,  but 
thoroughly  observant  and  quick  to  learn. 

'In  the  head  of  the  polypus  dwell  both  good  and  ill  ;'^  the 
plant  is  very  good  to  eat,  but,  they  say,  disturbs  one's  sleep 
with  confused  and  unnatural  dreams.  Likewise  in  poetry 
there  is  much  good  and  nutritious  food  for  a  young  man's 
mind,  which  becomes  no  less  a  source  of  confusion  and  dis- 
traction to  him  if  his  study  of  poetry  is  not  guided  aright. 
For  of  poetry  as  of  Egypt  it  may  be  said,  that,  for  those 
using  its  products,  it  yields  'herbs  in  greatest  plenty,  many 
that  are  healing  in  the  cup  and  many  baneful.'^  'Therein 
are  love,  and  desire,  and  loving  enticement,  that  steals  the 
wits  even  of  the  wise.'*  Indeed  the  charms  of  poetry  do 
not  appeal  to  those  who  are  altogether  stupid  and  void  of 
understanding.     Wherefore  to  one  who  asked  Simonides,^ 

^  See  Plutarch,  Symposiacs  vii.  5  ;  That  we  Ought  to  Preserve  Ourselves 
from  Pleasure  arising  from  Bad  Music  ;  where,  though  at  greater  length, 
the  same  ideas  are  expressed  and  even  the  same  illustrations  are 
employed.  Schlemm,  8-13,  argues  that  Plutarch  is  here  influenced  by 
the  ideas  of  the  Peripatetics,  and  quotes  at  length  from  Aristotle.  See 
Plato,  Repub.  iii.  387.  ^  See  Plutarch,  Symposiacs  viii.  10,  i. 

3  Odys.  iv.  230.  '^  II'  xiv.  216. 

5  One  of  the  great  lyric  poets  (556?— 468?  B.C.);  noted  for  the  ten- 
derness and  sympathy  of  his  poems.  '  His  sunny  temper  and  his  easy 
philosophy  of  life  made  him  welcome  wherever  his  vocation  called  him.' 

50 


How  to  Study  Poetry 

why,  of  all  men,  the  Thessalians  were  the  only  ones  whom 
he  could  not  deceive,  he  replied  that  they  were  too  stupid 
to  be  cajoled  by  him.  Likewise  Gorgias^  called  tragedy  a 
deception,  wherein  he  who  deceived  was  more  just  than  he 
who  did  not  deceive,  and  he  who  was  deceived  was  wiser 
than  he  who  was  not  deceived.  Shall  we  then  stop  the  ears 
of  our  young  men  with  a  hard  and  impenetrable  wax,  as 
the  ears  of  the  Ithacans^  were  stopped,  and  compel  them, 
as  it  were,  to  add  the  Epicurean  sail,  and  to  flee  past  poetry 
under  full  sail  and  with  all  oars  out?  Rather,  shall  we  not 
bind  them  in  subjection  to  right  reason,  and  guide  and 
guard  their  judgments,  lest  pleasure  turn  them  aside  to 
their  hurt !  'Nay  moreover  even  Drya's  son,  mighty  Lykur- 
gos'^  did  not  show  good  judgment  when  he  went  about  cut- 
ting down  the  vineyards  because  many  were  given  to  drunk- 
enness and  rioting;  instead,  he  should  have  seen  that  wells 
were  nearer  at  hand  to  act  as  a  corrective,  so  that,  as  Plato 
puts  it,*  the  drunken  god  would  be  held  in  check  by  the  sober 
one.  For  water  mixed  with  wine  does  not  affect  its  useful- 
ness, and  removes  what  is  hurtful.  Accordingly,  we  should 
not  cut  down  nor  utterly  destroy  the  muse's  vine,  poetry, 
but  where  fiction  and  drama,  bold  and  presumptuous  from 
ungoverned  delight  in  popular  applause,  luxuriate  and  grow 
wild,  we  must  lay  hold  of  them  to  prune  and  restrain  them, 
and  where  poetry  affects  one  by  its  poetic  grace,  and  its 
sweetness  and  attractiveness  are  not  fruitless  and  barren, 
there  let  us  introduce  philosophy  to  be  mingled  with  it. 

For  as  when  the  mandrake  grows  beside  the  vineyard  it 
imparts  its  influence  to  the  wine,  and  makes  the  sleep  of 
those  who  drink  it  more  refreshing,  so  when  poetry  tempers 

'  Rhetorician  and  sophist,  contemporary  of  Socrates  ;  he  inaugurated 
an  elaborate  and  artificial  style,  which  was  much  imitated. 

2  Odys.  xii.  37-101.     See  p.  104.  ^11.  vi.  130. 

*  Laws  vi.  773  :  '  For  there  is  a  difficulty  in  perceiving  that  the  city 
ought  to  be  well  mingled  like  a  cup,  in  which  the  raging  draught  over- 
flows and  spills,  but  when  chastened  by  another  god  not  drunk  with 
wine,  receives  a  fair  admixture  and  becomes  an  excellent  and  temper- 
ate drink.' 


51 


Hozv  to  Study  Poetry 

its  fictitious  creations  with  the  principles  of  philosophy,  it 
makes  study  easy  and  attractive  to  young  men.  Wherefore 
poetry  is  not  to  be  scrupulously  avoided  by  those  who  intend 
to  be  philosophers,  but  they  are  to  make  poetry  a  fitting- 
school  for  philosophy,  by  forming  the  habit  of  seeking  and 
gaining  the  profitable  in  the  pleasant,  and  of  utterly  resist- 
ing and  spurning  that  poetry  in  which  they  find  no  profit.^ 
For  this  discrimination  is  the  beginning  of  education,  and, 
according  to  Sophocles,  'If  an  undertaking  begins  well,  the 
chances  are  it  will  end  well/^ 

II 

In  introducing  the  young  to  the  study  of  poetry,  one 
should  take  care  that  nothing  is  more  thoroughly  understood 
and  kept  in  mind  than  that  the  bards  often  falsify,  sometimes 
intentionally,  and  sometimes  unintentionally.  This  they  do 
intentionally,  since  they  think  that  the  severity  of  truth  is 
less  adapted  to  that  pleasing  grace  of  expression  which  cap- 
tivates most  people  than  is  fiction.  In  actual  life  events  do 
not  change,  however  unpleasing  the  outcome,  but  fiction 
steps  aside  and  turns  with  the  greatest  ease  from  that  which 
distresses  to  that  which  gives  pleasure.  For  neither  metre, 
nor  tropes,  nor  harmony  of  construction  is  so  winsome  and 
engaging  as  a  well-woven  fabric  of  fiction.^     Just  as  color  in 

1  See  §  14. 

*  See  Nauck,  Tragicorum  Graecorum  Fragmenta  246.  Compare  the 
last  two  paragraphs  with  the  similar  passage  in  Plutarch's  essay  Of 
Moral  Virtue  12, 

3  See  Aristotle,  Poet.  vi.  9-1 1  :  *  But  most  important  of  all  is  the  struc- 
ture of  the  incidents.  For  tragedy  is  an  imitation,  not  of  men,  but  of 
an  action  and  of  life, — of  happiness  and  misery  ;  and  happiness  and 
misery  consist  in  action,  the  end  of  human  life  being  a  mode  of  action, 
not  a  quality.  Now  the  characters  of  men  determine  their  qualities,  but 
it  is  by  their  actions  that  they  are  happy  or  the  reverse.  Dramatic 
action,  therefore,  is  not  with  a  view  to  the  representation  of  character. 
Character  comes  in  as  subsidiary  to  the  action.  Hence  the  incidents 
and  the  plot  are  the  end  of  a  tragedy ;  and  the  end  is  the  chief  thing  of 
all.  Again,  without  action  there  cannot  be  a  tragedy  ;  there  may  be 
without  character.'  iv.  14  :  '  The  Plot,  then,  is  the  first  principle,  and,  as 
it  were,  the  soul  of  the  tragedy.'  viii.  4  :  'As  therefore,  in  the  other  imita 

52 


How  to  Study  Poetry 

a  painting  is  more  effective  than  line,  because  more  lifelike 
and  illusive/  so  in  poetry  a  probable  fiction^  is  more  impres- 
sive and  acceptable  than  the  fixed  truth,  which  is  without 
plot,  and  simple  in  metre  and  diction.^  Wherefore,  when, 
at  the  instigation  of  certain  dreams,  Socrates  undertook  to 
write  poetry,  of  which  the  fictitious  is  an  essential  element, 
because  he  was  unable  to  fabricate  plausible  and  clever  fic- 
tions, having  been  the  champion  of  truth  all  his  life,  he 
undertook  to  turn  into  verse  the  fables  of  Aesop.  And 
though  we  have  known  of  sacrifices  without  pipes  and 
dances,  we  have  never  known  of  a  poem  without  plot  and 
fiction.  Thus  the  verses  of  Empedocles*  and  Parmenides,^ 
Nicander's^  verses  on  antidotes  to  poisons,  and  the  maxims 

tive  arts,  the  imitation  is  one,  when  the  object  imitated  is  one,  so  the 
plot,  being  an  imitation  of  an  action,  must  imitate  one  action  and  that  a 
whole,  the  structural  union  of  the  parts  being  such  that  if  any  one  of 
them  is  displaced  or  removed,  the  whole  will  be  disjointed  and  dis- 
turbed.' 

^  Ibid.  vi.  5  :  '  The  most  beautiful  colors,  laid  on  confusedly,  will  not 
give  as  much  pleasure  as  the  chalk  outline  of  a  portrait.' 

^  Ibid.  viii.  4  :  '  The  universal  tells  us  how  a  person  of  given  character 
will  on  occasion  speak  or  act,  according  to  the  law  of  probability  or 
necessity.' 

^  Ibid.  vi.  7  :  '  Every  tragedy,  therefore,  must  have  six  parts,  which 
parts  determine  its  quality — namely,  Plot,  Character,  Diction,  Thought, 
Scenery,  Song.'     See  also  Introd.,  pp.  24-25. 

■^Empedocles  (about  450  B.C.),  who  acquired  great  fame  and  influence 
by  his  talents  and  varied  attainments  in  science,  maintained  that  the 
world  is  developed  from,  or  compounded  of,  four  primary  elements, 
fire,  earth,  air,  and  water,  and  that  there  are  two  forces,  love  and  hate 
(attraction  and  repulsion).  Of  his  poem  on  Nature,  important  frag- 
ments are  extant.  According  to  the  custom  of  the  time  it  was  written 
in  dactylic  hexameters.     See  Poet.  i.  8. 

^The  most  notable  of  the  philosophers  of  the  Eleatic  School  (b. 
about  519  B.C.).  *  His  work  on  Nature  was  divided  into  three  parts  : 
(i)  an  introduction,  describing  in  highly  figurative  language  the  manner 
in  which  the  philosopher  reached  the  citadel  of  truth  ;  (2)  a  treatise  on 
Truth  ;  and  (3)  a  treatise  on  Opinion.' 

^  Didactic  poet  of  the  second  century  B.C.  The  poem  here  mentioned, 
the  Theriaca,  is  extant.  *  The  author  has  sought  to  enliven  the  ungrate- 
ful theme  by  digressions  and  descriptions.' 


53 


How  to  Study  Poetry 

of  Theognis/  borrowed  the  poetic  form  and  dignity  only 
as  a  sort  of  riding-carriage,  to  avoid  footing  it. 

Once  more,  when  anything  absurd  or  distressing  about  the 
gods,  or  departed  souls,  or  virtue,  is  expressed  in  the  poetry 
of  a  famous  and  illustrious  man,  he  who  takes  such  state- 
ment for  the  truth  is  misled  and  corrupted  by  error,^  but  he 
who  always  remembers  and  keeps  clearly  in  mind  the  decep- 
tive juggling  of  poetry,  and  is  able  to  say  to  it  at  every 
turn,  *  "O  cunning  device,  more  wily  than  the  lynx,"^  why, 
when  jesting,  dost  thou  knit  thy  brows,  and  why,  when 
deceiving,  dost  thou  pretend  to  teach?'  such  a  one,  I  say, 
will  not  suffer  harm  nor  be  misled  in  his  belief.  Rather  he 
will  check  his  fears  lest  Poseidon  rip  open  the  earth  and  lay 
bare  the  infernal  regions,*  and  he  will  restrain  his  anger 
against  Apollo  for  killing  the  chief  of  the  Achaeans,  when 
he  reads  that,  'The  man  who  sang  his  praises  at  the  banquet 
and  uttered  these  words,  was  the  very  one  who  slew  him.'^ 
Likewise  he  will  repress  his  tears  for  Achilles  and  Agamem- 
non in  Hades,®  as  they  stretch  forth  impotent  and  feeble 
hands  in  supplication  for  life.  And  if  at  any  time  he  is  dis- 
turbed by  sufferings,  and  the  enchantment  of  poetry  is 
prevailing  against  him,  he  will  not  hesitate  to  say  to  himself, 
as  Homer  very  aptly  said  in  his  Necyia — considering  how 
attentive  women  are  to  fiction — 'But  haste  with  all  thine 
heart  toward  the  sunlight,  and  mark  all  this,  that  even  here- 
after thou  mayst  tell  it  to  thy  wife.'^  Such  are  the  things 
that  the  poets  purposely  invent. 

But  there  are  other  conceptions  not  feigned  at  all,  but  to 
which,  since  they  themselves  entertain  and  believe  them,  the 
poets  impart  a  false  color,  as  when  Homer  says  of  Zeus, 
that  he  'set  therein  two  lots  of  dreary  death,  one  of  Achilles, 

^  Elegiac  poet  of  the  sixth  century  B.C.  '  In  the  verses  that  have  been 
preserved  under  his  name,  1,389  in  number,  we  have  the  creed  of  a 
Doric  oligarch  set  forth  for  the  instruction  of  a  young  favorite  who 
belonged  to  the  same  order.' 

'  See  Plato,  Rep.  ii-iii,  where  this  idea  is  developd  at  length. 

^Nauck  694.  4//^  XX.  57  flf.  ^Nauck  694. 

'  Odys.  xi.  384  ff.  '  Odys.  xi.  222. 

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How  to  Study  Poetry 

one  of  horse-taming  Hector,  and  held  them  by  the  midst 
and  poised.  Then  Hector's  fated  day  sank  down,  and  fell 
to  the  house  of  Hades,  and  Phoebus  Apollo  left  him.'^ 
Aeschylus  has  made  a  whole  tragedy,  called  Psychostasia, 
out  of  this  legend,  in  which  he  introduces  Thetis  and  Eos 
standing  on  either  side  of  the  balance  of  Zeus,  soliciting 
favor  for  their  contending  sons.  Now  of  course  every  one 
sees  that  this  is  a  plot  invented  by  the  poet,  and  designed  to 
cause  the  hearer  pleasurable  fear.  But  this  passage  on  the 
other  hand,  'Zeus,  that  is  men's  dispenser  of  battle  ;'^  and  this 
other,  'When  'tis  God's  will  to  bring  an  utter  doom  upon  a 
house,  he  first  in  mortal  men  implants  what  works  it  out;'^ 
express  the  judgments  and  convictions  of  those  who  thus 
discover  and  betray  to  us  how  deceived  and  ignorant  they 
are  concerning  the  gods. 

Again  when,  in  necromancy,  conjurations  by  gruesome 
names  are  employed  to  call  up  spectres,  visions  of  burning 
rivers,  savage  wastes,  and  terrible  tortures,  very  few  fail  to 
perceive  that  there  is  here  a  copious  mixture  of  the  fabulous 
and  false,  as  of  poison  with  food.*  Neither  Homer  nor  Pin- 
dar nor  Sophocles  believed  that  he  was  telling  the  truth 
in  such  passages  as  'Thence  the  sluggish  streams  of  murky 

*//.  xxii.  2IO.     See  Plato,  J^ep.  ii.  379  :   'Then  we  must  not  listen  to 
Homer  or  any  other  poet  who  is  guilty  of  the  folly  of  saying  that : 
"At  the  threshold  of  Zeus  lie  two  cakes  full  of  lots,  one  of  good, 

the  other  of  evil  ;" 
And  that  he  to  whom  Zeus  gives  a  mixture  of  the  two — 

"  Sometimes  meets  with  good,  at  other  times  with  evil  fortune;" 
But  that  he  to  whom  is  given  the  cup  of  unmingled  ill — 

"  Him  wild  hunger  drives  over  the  divine  earth." 
And  again — 

"Zeus,  who  is  the  dispenser  of  good  and  evil  to  us."  ' 

2  //.  4.  84. 

3  Nauck  39.     The  translation  is  after  Plumptre. 

^  See  Plato,  J?eJ>.  iii.  386-387:  '  Well,  I  said,  and  if  they  are  to  be  cour- 
ageous, must  they  not  learn,  besides  these,  other  lessons  also,  such  as 
will  have  the  effect  of  taking  away  the  fear  of  death?  ...  I  said,  we 
shall  have  to  obliterate  obnoxious  passages,  beginning  with  the  verse, — 
"  I  would  rather  be  a  serf  on  the  land  of  a  poor  portionless  man  who  is 


55 


How  to  Study  Poetry 

might  disgorge  the  endless  darkness;'^  Tast  the  streams  of 
Oceanus  and  the  White  Rock  .  .  .  they  sped;'^  'The  nar- 
row straits  of  Hades  and  the  ebbing  of  the  deeps/^ 

On  the  other  hand,  whenever  the  poets  deplore  death  as 
pitiable,  or  the  want  of  burial  as  terrible,  and  utter  in  trem- 
bling tones  such  sentiments  as  the  following :  'Leave  me  not 
unwept  and  imburied  as  thou  goest  hence;'*  and  'His  soul, 
fleeting  from  his  limbs,  went  down  to  the  house  of  Hades, 
wailing  its  own  doom,  leaving  manhood  and  youth  ;'^  and 
'Cut  me  not  off  untimely,  for  sweet  it  is  to  see  the  light; 
force  me  not  to  see  the  realms  below  ;'^  they  express  the 
convictions  of  men  who  have  suffered  because  they  have 

not  well  to  do,  than   rule   over  all  the  dead  who  have  come   to 
naught," — {pdys.  xi.  489.) 
We  must  also  expunge  the  verse — 
"  He  feared  lest  the  mansions  grim  and  squalid  which  the  gods  abhor 
should  be  seen  both  by  mortals  and  immortals." — (//.  xx.  64.) 
Or  again — 
"  O  heavens  !  is  there  in  the  house  of  Hades  soul  and  ghostly  form  but 
no  mind?" — (//.  xxiii.  103.) 
Again — 
"  To  him  (Teiresias)  alone  had  the  gods  given  wisdom  ;  the  other  souls 
do  but  flit  as  shadows." — {Odys.  x.  495.) 
Again — 
"The  soul  flying  from  the  limbs  had  gone  to  Hades,  lamenting  her 
fate,  leaving  strength  and  youth." — (//.  xvi.  856.) 
Again — 
"And  the  soul,   with  shrilling  cry,   passed  like  smoke   beneath    the 
earth." — (//.  xxiii.  100.) 
And— 
"As  bats  in  hollow  of  mystic  cavern,  whenever  any  of  them  dropping 
out  of  the  string  falls  from  the  rock,  fly  shrilling  and  hold  to  one 
another,    so    did   they  with   shrilling   cry  hold   together  as  they 
moved." — {Odys.  xxiv.  6.) 
'  Also  we  shall  have  to  reject  all  the  terrible  and  appalling  names 
which  describe  the  world  below — Cocytus  and  Styx,  ghosts  under  the 
earth,  and  sapless  shades,  and  any  other  words  of  the  same  type,  the 
very  mention  of  which  causes  a  shudder  to  pass  through  the  inmost 
soul  of  him  who  hears  them.' 

^  Bergk,  Poetae  Lyrici  i.  426.  ^  Odys.  xxiv.  11. 

*  Nauck  246.  ^  Odys.  xi.  72. 

*//.  xvi.  856.  «  Euripides,  Jpk.  Aul.  1218. 

56 


How  to  Study  Poetry 

been  prepossessed  and  deceived  by  error,  and  such  ideas 
cling  to  us  and  distress  us  the  more  because  we  are  filled  to 
the  full  with  the  same  impotent  passion  which  gave  them 
utterance. 

Now  we  may  fortify  ourselves  against  such  ideas  by  bear- 
ing in  mind  from  the  very  first  that  poetry  is  not  much 
concerned  about  the  truth;  indeed,  what  the  truth  is  in 
regard  to  these  matters,  even  those  men  who  give  their  undi- 
vided attention  to  the  search  for  truth  confess  that  they  find 
it  very  hard  to  determine.  Therefore  let  us  have  these 
words  of  Empedocles  at  hand,  'So  eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear 
heard,  nor  the  mind  of  man  comprehended  these  things;'^ 
and  these  of  Xenophanes,^  'No  man  ever  lived,  nor  ever 
shall,  who  knows  the  truth  about  the  gods  and  a  thousand 
other  things;'^  and  especially  let  us  remember  the  passage 
from  Plato  in  which  Socrates  denies  knowledge  of  these 
things.*  For  when  young  men  see  that  these  matters  make 
the  heads  of  philosophers  swim,  they  will  pay  less  heed  to 
the  poets.** 

*  Mullach,  Fr.  Phil.  Graec.  i.  2. 

^  Founder  of  the  Eleatic  School  of  philosophy  ;  flourished  in  the 
second  half  of  the  sixth  century  B.C.  '  His  epic  poems  have  for  their 
themes,  The  Founding  of  Colophon,  and  The  Colonization  of  Elea,  but 
his  reputation  rested  on  his  didactic  poem,  On  Nature,  and  on  his 
satires,  in  which  he  attacked  the  doctrines  of  other  philosophers  and 
poets.     He  was  a  zealous  upholder  of  monotheism.' 

2  Mullach  i.  103. 

* Phaedo  69  :  'In  the  number  of  whom  (the  philosophers)  I  have  been 
seeking,  according  to  my  ability,  to  find  a  place  during  my  whole  life  , 
whether  I  have  sought  in  a  right  way  or  not,  and  whether  I  have  suc- 
ceeded or  not,  I  shall  truly  know  in  a  little  while,  if  God  will,  when  I 
myself  arrive  in  the  other  world  :  that  is  my  belief.' 

5  See  Introd.  pp.  24-28,  for  discussion  of  this  section. 


57 


How  to  Study  Poetry 


III 

We  shall  still  more  thoroughly  ground  the  young  man,  if, 
on  introducing  him  to  poetry,  we  explain  to  him  that  it  is  an 
imitative  art  and  agent,^  analogous  to  painting.  Not  only 
must  he  be  made  acquainted  with  the  common  saying  that 
poetry  is  vocal  painting,  and  painting,  silent  poetry,^  but  we 
must  also  teach  him  that  when  we  see  a  painting  of  a  lizard, 
an  ape,  or  the  face  of  Thersites,  our  pleasure  and  surprise 
are  occasioned,  not  by  the  beauty  of  the  object,  but  by  the 
likeness  of  the  painting  to  it.  For  it  is  naturally  impossible 
for  the  ugly  to  be  beautiful,  but  it  is  the  imitation  which  is 
praised,  if  it  reproduce  to  the  life  either  an  ugly  or  a  beauti- 
ful object.  On  the  contrary,  if  an  ugly  object  is  represented 
as  beautiful,  we  deny  the  truthfulness  or  the  consistency  of 
the  picture.  Now  there  are  some  artists  who  paint  shameful 
actions:  thus  Timotheus^  pictured  Medea  killing  her  chil- 
dren ;  Theon*  showed  Orestes  murdering  his  mother ;   Par- 

*  See  Introd.  pp.  18-24. 

*  In  the  essay  entitled  Whether  the  Athenians  were  More  Renowned 
for  their  Warlike  Achievements  or  for  their  Learning  c.  iii,  Plutarch 
attributes  this  saying  to  Simonides  :  *  Indeed,  Simonides  calls  painting 
silent  poetry,  and  poetry  speaking  painting.  For  those  actions  which 
painters  represent  as  occurrent  history  relates  as  past.  And  what  the 
one  sets  forth  in  colors  and  figures,  the  other  relates  in  words  and  sen- 
tences ;  only  they  differ  in  the  materials  and  manner  of  imitation.'  See 
also  Horace,  Art  of  Poetry  361  fi".: 

For  poems  are  like  pictures  :  some  appear 

Best  in  the  distance,  others  standing  near  ; 

This  loves  the  shade,  while  that  the  light  endures. 

Nor  shuns  the  nicest  ken  of  connoisseurs  ; 

This  charms  for  once,  and  then  the  charm  is  o'er. 

While  that,  the  more  surveyed,  still  charms  the  more. 
^A  statuary  and  sculptor  who  belonged  to  the  later  Attic  school  of 
the  time  of  Scopas  and  Praxiteles.     He  was  one  of  the  artists  who 
executed  the  bas-relief  which  adorned  the  frieze  of  the  mausoleum, 
about  352  B.C. 

^  Of  Samos,  a  painter  who  flourished  from  the  time  of  Philip  onward 
to  that  of  the  successors  of  Alexander.  The  peculiar  merit  of  Theon 
was  his  prolific  fancy. 

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How  to  Study  Poetry 

rhasius/  Odysseus  counterfeiting  madness;  and  Chaere- 
phanes,^  the  unchaste  converse  of  women  with  men.  In 
such  instances  it  is  especially  important  that  the  young  man 
come  to  understand  that  we  do  not  praise  the  action 
imitated,  but  the  art,  provided  the  subject  is  treated  accu- 
rately. Since  now  poetry  also  frequently  describes  base 
actions  and  depraved  emotions  and  character,  the  youth  must 
not  confound  their  artistic  admirableness  and  success  with 
truth,  nor  rank  them  as  beautiful,  but  is  only  to  praise  them 
as  accurate  and  truthful  likenesses  of  the  things  treated. 
For  as  we  are  annoyed  when  we  hear  the  grunting  of  a 
hog,  the  noise  of  pulleys,  the  whistling  of  the  wind,  and  the 
roaring  of  the  seas,  but  are  pleased  if  any  one  imitates  them 
with  naturalness,  as  Parmenio  did  the  hog,^  and  Theodorus 
the  pulleys,  and  as  we  avoid  the  unpleasant  sight  of  an 
unhealthy  man  with  festering  sores,  but  take  pleasure  in 
witnessing  the  Philoctetes  of  Aristophon*  and  the  Jocasta 
of  Silanion,^  which  are  realistic  likenesses  of  wasting  and 
dying  persons,  so  when  the  youth  reads  what  Thersites  the 
fool,  or  Sisyphus  the  debaucher,  or  Batrachus  the  brothel- 
keeper  says  or  does,  he  must  be  taught  to  praise  the  genius 
and  the  art  which  imitates,  but  to  censure  the  subjects  and 
actions  with  opprobrium.^     For  the  excellence  of  a  thing 

^  A  contemporary  and  rival  of  Zeuxis,  who  flourished  400-380  B.C. 
Zeuxis  deceived  the  birds  by  his  painted  grapes  ;  Parrhasius  deceived 
Zeuxis  himself  by  his  painting  of  a  curtain. 

2  Better  known  as  Nicophanes  :  Greek  painter,  younger  contempo- 
rary or  successor  of  Apelles,  but  inferior  to  him  ;  he  chose  subjects  of 
a  meretricious  character  for  his  painting. 

^  See  Introd.  p.  22,  note. 

■*  A  painter  of  some  distinction.     See  Introd.  p.  22,  note. 

°A  distinguished  statuary  in  bronze.  His  statues  belonged  to  two 
classes,  ideal  and  actual  portraits.  Of  the  former,  the  most  celebrated 
was  his  dying  Jocasta,  in  which  a  deadly  paleness  was  given  to  the  face 
by  the  mixture  of  silver  with  the  bronze.  His  statue  of  Sappho,  which 
stood  in  the  Prytaneum  at  Syracuse  in  the  time  of  Verres,  is  alluded  to 
by  Cicero  in  terms  of  the  highest  praise.     See  Introd.  p.  22,  note. 

^  See  Milton,  Apology  for  Smectymnuus  :  '  By  the  firm  settling  of  these 
persuasions,  I  became,  to  my  best  memory,  so  much  a  proficient,  that 


59 


How  to  Study  Poetry 

and  the  excellence  of  its  imitation  are  not  the  same ;  fitness 
and  naturalness  constitute  excellence,  but  to  things  base 
the  base  is  natural  and  fit.  To  be  sure,  the  boots  of 
Demonides  the  cripple,  which,  when  they  were  lost,  he 
wished  might  fit  the  feet  of  him  who  stole  them,  were 
sorry  objects,  but  they  fitted  him.  Take  also  the  following 
passage,  Tf  one  must  needs  do  wrong,  let  it  be  for  power's 
sake  ;'^  and  this,  'Gain  a  reputation  for  fair  dealing,  and  you 
may  do  the  deeds  of  a  knave  ;'^  and,  'A  talent  for  my  dowry ! 
Shall  I  not  have  it  ?  Can  I  live  if  I  slight  it  ?  Shall  I  meet 
with  sleep  if  I  chance  to  loose  it?  Will  I  not  suffer  hell's 
torments  if  I  sin  against  a  silver  talent  ?'^  these  are  false  and 
villainous  speeches,  but  suited  to  Eteocles,  Ixion,  and  an 
old  griping  usurer.  If  now  we  suggest  to  young  men 
that  the  poets  do  not  commend  and  praise  these  sentiments, 
but  assign  disgusting  and  base  words  to  base  and  disgust- 
ing characters,  they  will  not  get  wrong  notions  about  the 
poets.  On  the  contrary,  their  suspicion  of  the  character 
will  extend  to  his  acts  and  words,  the  assumption  being 
that  the  words  and  acts  of  a  base  man  must  likewise  be 
base.*  Of  such  a  sort  is  the  representation  of  Paris  stealing 
away  from  the  battle  to  lie  with  Helen;  for  as  this  lascivious 
and  adulterous  fellow  is  the  only  man  whom  the  poet 
represents  as  lying  with  a  woman  in  the  daytime,  it  is  clear 
that  he  regards  incontinence  as  a  shame  and  a  reproach.^ 

if  I  found  those  authors  anywhere  speaking  unworthy  things  of  them- 
selves, or  unchaste  of  those  names  which  before  they  had  extolled,  this 
effect  it  wrought  with  me — from  that  time  forward  their  art  I  still 
applauded,  but  the  men  I  deplored.' 

^Euripides,  Phoeniss  524.  See  Cicero,  De  Off.  iii.  21.  82  :  'Nam  si 
violendum  est  jus,  regnandi  gratia  violandum  est.' 

'^Nauck  652. 

3  Meineke,  Fragmenta  Comicorum  Graecorum  iv.  668. 

*  See  Poet.  xxv.  8. 

*//.  iii.  380-461.  See  Symposiacs  iii.  6.  4,  for  similar  comment  on  this 
episode. 


60 


How  to  Study  Poetry 


IV 

In  such  passages  one  must  observe  very  carefully  whether 
or  not  the  poet  gives  any  intimation  that  he  himself  is  dis- 
pleased with  these  ignoble  sentiments.  Instance  Menander 
in  the  prologue  to  his  Thetis:  *Now  sing  to  me,  goddess,  of 
such  a  maid,  bold,  youthful,  and  enticing,  ever  sinning,  ever 
wronging  others,  ever  shutting  her  doors  to  men,  and  crav- 
ing ever,  loving  no  man,  though  always  feigning  love.'^ 
But  Homer  is  the  most  particular  of  all  the  poets  in  this 
respect,  for  condemnation  precedes  the  expression  of  base 
sentiments,  and  commendation,  of  the  good.  Of  commenda- 
tion, note  the  following:  'So  straightway  he  spake  a  sweet 
and  cunning  word;'^  'He  stood  by  his  side,  and  refrained 
him  with  gentle  words.'^  And  as  for  condemnation,  his 
testimony  is  all  but  a  command  to  us  not  to  use  nor  heed 
disgusting  and  base  speeches.  Thus,  when  he  is  about  to 
narrate  how  uncivilly  Agamemnon  treated  the  priest,  he  pre- 
mises, 'Yet  the  thing  pleased  not  the  heart  of  Agamemnon, 
son  of  Atreus,  but  he  roughly  sent  him  away,'*  intimating 
that  such  an  act  is  brutal,  hard-hearted,  and  unbecoming. 
And  when  he  attributes  these  rash  words  to  Achilles,  'Thou 
heavy  with  wine,  thou  with  face  of  dog  and  heart  of  deer,'^ 
he  passes  this  judgment  upon  them,  'Then  Peleus'  son  spake 
again  with  bitter  words  to  Atreus'  son,  and  in  no  wise 
ceased  from  anger,'^  for  it  is  against  reason  that  words 
spoken  in  such  anger  and  bitterness  should  be  just.  In  a 
similar  way  he  passes  comment  upon  actions;    thus,  'He 

'  Meineke  iv.  131.  "^  Odys.  vi.  148. 

3//.  ii.  189.  ^11.  i.  124. 

5  See  Plato,  Rep.  iii.  390  :  *  What  again  of  this  line, — 
•*0  heavy  with  wine,  who  hast  the  eyes  of  a  dog  and  the  heart  of  a 

stag."     (//.  i.  225.) 
And  of  the  verses  which  follow?     Would  you  say  that   these    or   any 
other  impertinent  words  which  private  men  are  supposed  to  address  to 
their  rulers,  whether  in  verse  or  prose,  are  well  or  ill  spoken  ? 

They  are  ill  spoken.' 

•//.  i.  223. 

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How  to  Study  Poetry 

said,  and  devised  foul  entreatment  of  noble  Hector,  stretch- 
ing him  prone  in  the  dust  beside  the  bier  of  Menoitios'  son.'^ 
He  also  makes  good  use  of  the  criticism  which  one  character 
passes  upK)n  another,  for  registering  his  own  opinions  of 
actions  and  speeches,  as  when  he  makes  the  gods  say  of  the 
adultery  of  Ares,  111  deed,  ill  speed !  The  slow  catcheth  the 
swift.'^  And  notice  the  intimation  in  Hera's  resentment  of 
the  disdain  and  arrogance  of  Hector,  *So  spake  he  boastfully, 
and  queen  Hera  had  indignation,'^  and  observe  the  following 
in  the  light  of  Pandarus'  shooting,  'So  spake  Athene,  and 
persuaded  his  fool's  heart.'*  Now  every  attentive  reader 
will  notice  such  condemnations,  which  are  expressed  in  the 
very  words  of  the  text.^ 

But  other  hints  are  embodied  in  the  actions.  Thus  Eurip- 
ides is  said  to  have  replied  to  those  who  found  fault  with  his 
Ixion  as  an  impious  and  dirty  fellow,  'Nay,  but  I  did  not 
take  him  off  the  stage  until  I  had  fastened  him  to  a  torturing 
wheel.'  This  teaching  by  implication  is  also  used  by  Homer, 
and  offers  helpful  and  subtle  comment  upon  those  very  fables 
most  often  misconstrued.  For  some  men  distort  these 
stories,  and  pervert  them  into  allegories,^  or  what  the  men 
of  old  times  called  hidden  meanings."^  Thus  they  say  that 
the  real  meaning  of  the  adultery  of  Aphrodite  and  Ares, 
discovered  by  Helios,^  is  that  when  the  star  called  Ares 
comes  in  conjunction  with  Aphrodite,  bastardly  births  are 
produced,  and  that,  since  the  sun  rises  and  discovers  them, 
they  are  not  concealed.  So  will  they  have  Hera's  arraying 
herself  for  Zeus  and  the  enchantment  of  the  girdle®  to  mean 
the  purification  of  the  air  in  the  vicinity  of  fire.  As  if  the 
poet  had  not  interpreted  these  episodes!  For  in  the  fable 
of  Aphrodite,  he  teaches  the  attentive  student  that  light 

^ //.  xxiii.  24.  '^Odys.  viii.  329.         ^11.  viii.  198.         ^//.  iv.  104. 

5  See  Schrader,  Porphyria,  Quaesii.  Homer.  313-315,  for  observations 
similar  to  these. 

^  See  Saintsbury,  History  of  Crit.  i.  2.  10,  and  Schlemm,  32-36,  for 
a  discussion  of  the  extent  and  character  of  early  allegorical  interpreta- 
tion.   Such  interpretation  is  rejected  by  Plato  ;  see  Rep.  ii,  and  Phaedrus. 

''imovoiat.  ®See  Odys.  viii.  265-367.  ^//.  xiv.  152-352. 

62 


Hozv  to  Study  Poetry 

music,  wanton  songs,  and  obscene  talk  make  for  impure 
characters,  unmanly  lives,  and  natures  given  over  to  luxury 
and  effeminacy,  'changes  of  raiment,  and  the  warm  bath, 
and  love,  and  sleep.'^  And  therefore  he  brings  in  Odysseus 
bidding  the  bard,  'Come  now,  change  thy  strain,  and  sing 
of  the  fashioning  of  the  horse  of  wood,'^  thus  teaching 
rightly  that  musicians  and  poets  should  take  their  themes 
from  men  of  reason  and  understanding.^  In  the  fable  of 
Hera  he  teaches  most  effectively  that  intercourse  and  favors 
secured  from  men  through  drugs,  sorcery,  and  cunning  not 
only  are  short-lived,  inconstant,  and  soon  cloying,  but  are 
quickly  turned  to  displeasure  and  loathing  when  once  passion 
has  spent  itself.  This  is  exemplified  by  the  way  Zeus 
threatens  Hera,  when  he  says  to  her  'that  thou  mayest 
know  if  it  profit  thee  at  all,  the  dalliance  and  the  love 
wherein  thou  didst  lie  with  me,  when  thou  hadst  come  from 
among  the  gods  and  didst  beguile  me.''*  For  if  the  disgrace 
and  harm  to  the  doer  is  embodied  in  the  representation  and 
imitation  of  a  base  act,  the  reader  is  helped  rather  than 
hindered.  At  any  rate,  philosophers  employ  examples  from 
history  for  our  correction  and  instruction,  and  the  poets 
only  differ  from  them  by  inventing  and  presenting  fictitious 
narratives.  Be  it  in  jest  or  earnest,  Melanthius^  was  wont 
to  say  that  the  salvation  of  Athens  depended  upon  the  dis- 
sensions and  quarrels  among  the  orators;  for  thus  not  all 
the  citizens  took  the  same  view,  and  in  this  diversity  was  a 
preventive  of  harm.  Similarly  the  contradictions  in  the 
poets  offset  one  another,  so  that  the  balance  cannot  incline 
unduly  toward  that  which  is  hurtful.  Therefore,  when  a 
comparison  of  one  passage  with  another  exposes  a  contra- 
diction, we  ought  to  adhere  to  the  better  sentiment,  as  in 

^  Odys.  viii.  249.  "^  Odys.  viii.  492. 

3  See  like  comment  in  Schrader,  74-75. 

^//.  XV.  32.  See  J^ep.  iii.  390,  for  Plato's  comment  on  these  episodes 
of  Zeus  and  Hera  and  of  Ares  and  Aphrodite. 

5  An  Athenian  tragic  poet,  of  whom  little  is  known  beyond  the  attacks 
made  on  him  by  Aristophanes  and  the  other  comic  poets.  The  most 
important  passage  respecting  him  is  in  the  Peace  of  Aristophanes  (796  ff.). 
Several  specimens  of  his  celebrated  wit  are  preserved  by  Plutarch. 

63 


How  to  Study  Poetry 

these  instances :  *  "Many  times,  my  son,  the  gods  ruin  men ;" 
"  'Tis  easy  to  lay  blame  on  the  gods ;"  '^  and  again,  '  "Much 
wealth  is  thine,  but  they  are  bankrupt ;"  "Accursed  the  rich 
fool ;"  '^  *  "What  then,  must  you  kill  yourself  with  sacrific- 
ing?" "Indeed  it  is  no  hardship  to  reverence  the  gods." '^ 
Such  contradictions  need  not  trouble  a  young  man,  if,  as  I 
have  said,  we  teach  him  to  fix  upon  the  better  sentiment. 

But  when  absurd  sayings  are  not  refuted  in  the  con- 
text, they  are  to  be  canceled  by  contradictory  sentiments 
occurring  elsewhere  in  the  same  author,  and  we  are  not  to 
be  vexed  with  the  poet  because  of  such  absurdities,  nor  to 
judge  him  harshly,  but  to  accept  them  as  playful  masquer- 
ading. So,  if  he  wishes,  when  he  hears  of  the  gods  hurling 
one  another  from  heaven,  wounded  by  mortals,  and  quarrel- 
ing and  brawling,*  he  may  say  to  Homer,  '  "Yet  thou  hast  it 
in  thee  to  devise  other  sayings  more  excellent  than  this,"^ 
and  certainly  you  give  utterance  to  far  better  thoughts  else- 
where, as  "The  gods  that  live  at  ease  ;"^  "Therein  the  blessed 
gods  are  glad  for  all  their  days  ;"^  "This  is  the  lot  the  gods 
have  spun  for  miserable  men,  that  they  should  live  in  pain ; 
yet  themselves  are  sorrowless."  '^  For  these  are  sound  and 
true  opinions  of  the  gods,  but  those  above  were  only  feigned 
to  cause  men  fear.  Again,  when  Euripides  says,  'By  many  an 
artifice  the  gods,  who  are  our  betters,  cause  us  to  stumble,'® 
it  is  well  to  return  a  better  answer  in  the  words  of  Euripides 
himself,  'If  the  gods  do  anything  base,  they  are  no  gods.'^® 
And  when  in  a  very  bitter  and  provoking  way  Pindar  says, 
'We  must  stop  at  nothing  that  will  enfeeble  our  enemy,  once 
our  friend,'^^  we  shall  answer,  'But  you  yourself  say  that 
"Unrighteous  pleasure  awaits  the  bitterest  end."  '^^  So  when 
Sophocles  says,  'Sweet  is  the  gain  which  falsehood  brings,'^^ 
we  shall  rejoin,  'But  we  have  heard  you  say  that  "False 
words  produce  no  fruit."  '^* 

1  Nauck  345.  ^  Ibid  542.  ^  Nauck  694. 

4  See  Plato,  Rep.  ii.  378  ;  iii.  390  ;  and  pp.  104-105.  ^11.  vii.  358. 

6//.  vi.  138.  '^  Odys.  vi.  46.  « //.  xxii.  525.  »  Nauck  519. 

^0  Ibid.  355.     See  Plutarch,  The  Contradictions  of  the  Stoics  jj. 
11  Isthm.  iv.  48.  12  Ibid.  vii.  47.  ^^  Nauck  246.  1*  Ibid.  246. 

64 


How  to  Study  Poetry 

Again,  to  what  the  same  author  says  of  riches,  'The 
inaccessible  and  the  accessible  alike  open  up  to  wealth,  while 
nowhere  may  the  man  who  earns  his  daily  bread  compass 
his  heart's  desire,  even  by  entreaty;  riches  truly  make  the 
unshapely  body  fair  to  see,  and  cause  the  ineloquent  man  to 
speak  with  skilful  tongue,'^  may  be  opposed  many  of  his  own 
words,  such  as  these :  'From  honor,  poverty  doth  not  debar  ','^ 
'Poverty  is  no  reproach  to  him  whose  thoughts  are  noble  ;'^ 
'Wherein  are  a  multitude  of  fine  things  a  boon,  if  the  fool's 
anxiety  is  the  price  paid  for  blessed  wealth?'*  Menander 
undoubtedly  stirred  up  and  inflamed  the  love  of  pleasure  by 
the  following  amorous  and  burning  lines,  'Everything  that 
has  life  and  with  us  beholds  the  common  sun  is  the  slave  of 
pleasure  ;'^  but  at  another  time  he  pursues  a  different  course 
and  inclines  us  to  virtue,  checking  the  rage  of  lust,  when  he 
says,  'An  infamous  life  is  a  reproach,  however  sweet  it 
be.'®  These  lines  are  contrary  to  the  former,  and  both  better 
and  more  profitable.  Accordingly,  such  comparison  and 
critical  examination  of  passages  either  inclines  one  to  the 
better,  or  at  least  destroys  one's  confidence  in  the  worse. 

But  if  any  of  the  poets  do  not  themselves  offer  an  escape 
from  those  things  which  they  have  said  amiss,  it  is  well  to 
employ  the  contrary  sentiments  of  other  famous  men,  so 
that  the  better  may  outbalance  the  worse.  Thus,  when 
Alexis'^  tempts  people  with  these  words,  'The  wise  man  must 
needs  heap  up  pleasures,  and  three  there  are  which  have  the 
power  to  make  life  fully  and  finally  complete:  to  eat,  to 
drink,  to  follow  after  wanton  sports ;  and  if  other  pleasures 
be  added  to  these,  they  are  to  be  counted  over-measure,'^  we 
must  remember  that  Socrates,  in  far  different  strain,  says 
that  'Bad  men  live  that  they  may  eat  and  drink,  but  good 
men  eat  and  drink  that  they  may  live.'     And  to  offset  the 

» Ibid.  ii8.  2  Ibid.  247.  3  Ibid.  247. 

*  Ibid.  207.  5  Meineke  iv.  266.  ^  Ibid.  iv.  282. 

'  Comic  poet ;  b.  B.C.  392.  '  One  of  the  most  important  and  prolific 
writers  of  the  Middle  Attic  Comedy,  yet  living  as  he  did  to  the  age  of 
106,  he  reached  far  into  the  period  of  the  New  Attic  Comedy.  The 
part  of  the  parasite  was  considered  his  special  invention.' 

^  Meineke  iii.  518. 

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How  to  Study  Poetry 

sentiment  of  the  man  who  wrote,  'Against  the  knave,  knav- 
ery itself  is  no  bad  tool' — as  it  were  commending  us  to  be- 
come like  the  knave — we  are  to  use  the  words  of  Diogenes,^ 
who,  being  asked  how  a  man  might  revenge  himself  upon 
an  enemy,  said,  'by  being  an  honest  and  upright  man  him- 
self.' Diogenes  may  also  be  cited  against  Sophocles,  who 
caused  utter  despair  to  multitudes  of  men  when  he  wrote 
thus  about  the  mysteries:  'Thrice  happy  mortals  they  who 
behold  these  mysteries  ere  the  journey  to  Hades;  to  them 
alone  is  it  given  there  to  enjoy  life's  vigor;  on  others  all 
ills  attend.'  For  when  Diogenes  heard  some  such  thing, 
'What  then,'  says  he,  'shall  Pataecion  the  thief  enjoy  a  better 
lot  than  Epaminondas,^  simply  because  he  was  initiated?' 
And  when  Timotheus*  in  the  theatre  was  extolling  Artemis, 
calling  her  'mad,  inspired,  possessed,  frenzied,'^  Cinesias® 
straightway  shouted  back,  'May  thy  daughter  be  such  a  one.' 
Similarly,  when  Theognis^  said,  'Naught  may  he  say  or  do 
who  bears  the  yoke  of  poverty ;  his  tongue  is  bound,'^  Bion^ 
cleverly  replied,  'How  comes  it  then  that  thou  thyself,  being 
so  poor,  so  copiously  pratest  and  chatterest  in  this  manner  ?'^^ 

^  See  pp.  117.  "^  Nauck  247. 

3  Statesman  and  general  ;  b.  at  Thebes  about  418  B.C.  Epaminondas 
was  the  successful  leader  of  the  Thebans  in  their  wars  with  the  Spartans, 
showing  remarkable  military  genius.  '  He  left  a  pure  and  exalted  repu- 
tation as  a  patriot,  a  statesman,  and  a  sage,  and  is  universally  admitted 
to  have  been  one  of  the  greatest  captains  of  antiquity.  Cicero  expressed 
the  opinion  that  Epaminondas  was  the  greatest  man  that  Greece  had 
produced.' 

*  The  most  admired  Greek  musician  of  his  day  ;  flourished  towards 
the  close  of  the  fourth  century,  B.C.  His  innovation  consisted  in  the 
use  of  a  chorus  in  rendering  the  so-called  Nome,  and  in  the  employ- 
ment of  mimetic  action  to  enliven  the  delivery.  ^  Bergk  3.  620. 

«  Probably  the  dithyrambic  poet  ridiculed  by  Aristophanes. 

'  See  p.  54.  ^  177.  ^  A  Cyreniac  philosopher  of  the  third  cen- 
tury B.C.,  noted  for  his  sharp  sayings. 

^^  Schlemm  attributes  the  ridicule  of  allegory  in  this  chapter,  and  the 
moral  interpretation  of  Homer,  to  the  influence  of  lost  Peripatetic 
writings,  the  discussion  of  the  contradictions  in  the  poets  to  the  Stoics, 
and  the  chronologically  impossible  anecdotes  in  the  last  paragraph  to 
Plutarch's  ingenious  association  of  the  famous  words  of  poets  and 
philosophers. 

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How  to  Study  Poetry 


Nor  is  the  context  to  be  ignored  as  a  factor  in  correct 
interpretation.  Just  as  physicians  believe  that,  although  the 
cantharides  is  deadly,  its  feet  and  wings  are  efficacious  in 
nullifying  the  effect  of  the  poison,^  so  in  poetry  if  any  noun 
or  verb  in  the  context  can  make  a  better  case  out  for  a  pas- 
sage, it  should  be  eagerly  taken  up  with  and  noted.  This 
method  should  be  employed  in  the  following  verses,  'Lo 
this  is  now  the  only  due  we  pay  to  miserable  men,  to  cut 
the  hair  and  let  the  tear  fall  from  the  cheek  ;'2  'This  is  the 
lot  the  gods  have  spun  for  miserable  men,  that  they  should 
live  in  pain.'^  For  Homer  does  not  say  that  for  absolutely 
every  man  the  gods  have  woven  a  painful  life,  but  for  those 
who  are  foolish  and  unreasonable,  whom,  because  wicked- 
ness has  made  them  such,  he  is  wont  to  call  wretched  and 
pitiable.* 


VI 

We  shall  be  further  helped  in  our  efforts  to  put  the  best 
interpretation  upon  doubtful  passages  by  observing  whether 
or  not  a  word  is  used  in  its  ordinary  sense  f  in  this  a  young 
man  should  be  better  trained  than  in  the  study  of  dialects. 
Thus  it  is  a  point  in  philology,  and  rather  an  interesting 
one  too,  that  ptyeSavo?  {making  one  shudder)  means  an  evil 
death,  for  the  Macedonians  use  Sapos  as  a  synonym  for 
death.  The  Aeolians  call  victory  won  through  endurance 
and  persistency  Ka/A/Aovoy/  {a  staying  behind),  and  the  Dry- 
opians  call  divinities  7ro7rot(0  strange  ones!). 

Further,  if  we  wish  to  be  helped  rather  than  hindered  by 
the  poets,  it  is  both  profitable  and  necessary  to  know  how 
they  use  the  names  of  gods,  as  also  the  terms  for  evil  and 

^  See  Dioscorides  i.  66.  '^Odys.  iv.  197.  "^  li.  xxiv.  526. 

*  See  Aristotle,  Poet.  xxv.  8-20,  for  similar  suggestions. 
^  Poet.  xxv.  8-20. 

*  Ep.  for  Karanovi],  explained  by  Schol.  r]  ek  KaTafiovrjg  vUrj. 

67 


Hozv  to  Study  Poetry 

good,  what  they  mean  by  Tv^^  and  Motpa  {Fortune  and 
Fate),  and  whether,  as  in  the  case  of  a  number  of  other 
words,  they  use  these  in  one  or  in  many  senses.  For 
oticos  {house,  abode)  sometimes  means  a  material  house, 
as,  'into  his  high-roofed  home,'^  and  sometimes  an  estate, 
as,  *  My  property'  is  being  devoured/^  Similarly,  ^tbro? 
{life)  means  life,  as,  'But  Poseidon  of  the  dark  locks  made 
his  shaft  of  no  avail,  grudging  him  the  life/*  but  also 
wealth,  as,  'that  others  may  consume  his  livelihood/^ 
Again  dXvctv  {mental  wandering)  is  also  used  instead  of 
the  terms  for  sore  vexation  and  perplexity  respectively,  as 
*  So  spake  he,  and  she  departed  in  amaze  and  was  sore 
troubled,'^  and  the  same  word  also  signifies  boasting  and 
rejoicing,  as,  'Art  thou  beside  thyself  for  joy,  because  thou 
hast  beaten  the  beggar  Irus?''^  Likewise  Boaiuv  {to  move 
quickly)  means  to  move,  as  in  Euripides,  'the  whale  rush- 
ing beyond  the  Atlantic  deeps,'^  and  again,  to  sit  down  and 
to  remain  seated,  as  in  Sophocles,  'Why  sit  ye  here,  your 
hands  thus  wreathed  with  the  suppliant's  boughs?'® 

It  is  also  in  good  taste,  as  the  grammarians  teach,  to, 
adapt  words  to  the  matter  in  hand,  by  construing  them  from 
their  customary  meanings,  as  in  this  passage,  vq  oXCyrjv 
atvcif/,  /xcyoXT/  8*  m  <i>opr(a  OicrBca  {a  fresh  pittance  courteously 
to  decline,  but  to  store  up  goods  in  abundance)  ,'^^  for  here 
aivctv  {to  tell  or  speak  of)  has  the  meaning  of  liraivtXv  (to 
approve,  praise,  in  the  sense  of  to  decline  courteously) ,  and 

*  Odys.  V.  42 :  oIkov  kg  vipdpotpov.  ^  B.  and  L.  read  dwelling. 
^  Odys.  iv.  318:  eadisTai  fioL  olKog.  '^  II.  xiii.  562  : 

afievTjvuaev  di  oi  alxfiijv 
Kvavoxcura  Roaeidduv,  fSiSroio  fiey^pag. 
^  Odys.  xiii.  419:  f3ioTov  6e  fiot  h7i7[,oi  edovoi. 

•  //.  V.  352  :    £>g  l<l>a&,  f/  ^  akvovcf  dnefiijaeTo,  reipero  6'  alvag. 
'  Odys.  xviii.  332:  ^  dTiveig  brt  Ipov  kviKTjGaq  tov  akijTTfv. 

8  Nauck  523:  laJTOQ  Bodrov  k^  ' ArTiavriK^g  d^6g. 

»  Oed.  Tyr.  2  : 

rivag  tz6&  edpag   rdade  fioi  Bodl^ere 

iKTf/pioig  KlddoLGiv  e^eaTS/ifievoi. 

Hermann  interprets  the  word  as  meaning,  come  in  haste  to  this  suppliant 

posture,  or  sit  in  earnest  supplication. 

'0  Hesiod,  W.  and  D.  641. 

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How  to  Study  Poetry 

cTratvctv  in  turn  is  used  instead  of  napaiT€La-6aL  (to  beg  off). 
Similarly,  in  familiar  intercourse  we  say  KoXm  exuv  (to  be 
well),  and  we  bid  a  thing  x^P^*-^  (farewell),  when  we  do 
not  care  for  it  nor  wish  to  receive  it.  So  in  the  expression 
iirawj]  ll€p(Te<f}6v€ui  (dread  Proserpine),  some  say  that  the 
force  of  the  adjective  is  that  of  irapcuTrjnj  (to  be  deprecated). 

Now  that  they  may  discriminate  with  equal  care  in  those 
words  which  have  to  do  with  the  weighty  and  serious  affairs 
of  the  gods,  we  should  begin  by  teaching  young  men  that 
the  poets  use  the  names  of  the  gods  sometimes  to  denote 
the  divine  beings  themselves,  and  sometimes  without  change 
to  designate  certain  elements  which  the  gods  have  given  and 
control.^  Archilochus  illustrates  this  well.  When  he  prays, 
'Hear  my  petition.  King  Hephaestus,  and  be  gracious  to  thy 
suppliant  and  grant  his  desire,'^  plainly  he  invokes  the  god 
himself;  but  when,  in  dirge-like  measure,  he  bewails  the 
drowning  of  his  brother-in-law,  because  he  perished  without 
funeral  rites,  'Had  Hephaestus  but  proved  a  purifying  gar- 
ment for  his  dear  head  and  limbs  !^  he  applies  the  name  to 
the  fire  and  not  to  the  god.  Again,  when  Euripides  says 
with  an  oath,  'By  star-encircled  Zeus  and  bloody  Mars,'*  he 
means  the  gods,  but  when  Sophocles  says,  'For  the  blind 
unseeing  Ares,  O  dames,  with  swine-like  snout  stirs  up  all 
ills,'^  war  is  meant.  By  the  same  word  we  are  also  to  under- 
stand brazen  arms  when  Homer  says,  'Keen  Ares  hath  spilt 
their  dusky  blood  about  fair-flowing  Skamandros.'^ 

Analogous  to  these  examples,  we  must  recognize  that  when 
the  words  God  and  Zeus  are  employed,  the  poets  some- 
times mean  the  very  God  himself,  sometimes  Fortune,  and 
oftentimes  Fate.'^  When  they  say,  'Father  Zeus,  that  rulest 
from  Ida,'^  and,  'O  Zeus,  who  claims  to  be  more  wise  than 
thou  ?'®  it  is  the  god  himself.  But  when  they  call  Zeus  the 
cause  of  all  results,  saying,  'And  hurled  down  into  Hades 
many  strong  souls  of  heroes,  so  the  counsel  of  Zeus  wrought 

*  Compare  Schrader  42.  24.         '-^  Bergk.  2.  404.         ^  Ibid.  2.  387. 
^  Phoen.  1013.  ^  Nauck  247.  ^  //.  vii.  329. 

'  Teaching  of  the  Stoics  ;  compare  Gercke,  Chrysippus,  Fragmenta  32, 
36,  99  ;  Plutarch,  Contradictions  of  the  Stoics  34.  ^  //.  iii.  276. 

'  Nauck  694, 

69 


How  to  Study  Poetry 

out  its  accomplishment/^  they  have  Fate  in  mind.  For  the 
poet  does  not  believe  that  the  god  devises  ill  against  men, 
but  he  shows  the  inevitableness  with  which  prosperity  and 
victory  wait  upon  cities,  armies  and  leaders  who  practise 
self-control,  and  with  which  shame,  disaster,  and  confusion 
result  to  those  who,  like  men  divided  into  wrangling  fac- 
tions, yield  to  passion  and  error.^  Fate  is  also  meant  in 
the  following:  *It  is  decreed  that  the  evil  plans  of  mortals 
shall  bear  them  a  full  harvest  of  ills.'^  But  when  Hesiod 
makes  Prometheus  advise  Epimetheus,  'Never  receive  thou 
gifts  from  the  Olympic  Zeus,  but  cast  them  from  thee,'* 
the  name  of  the  god  is  used  to  denote  Fortune,  for  the  goods 
of  Fortune,  such  as  riches,  marriages,  kingdoms,  and  in 
short  every  material  thing,  the  possession  of  which  is  with- 
out profit  to  those  who  are  unable  to  use  it  wisely,  he  calls 
the  gifts  of  Zeus.^  Therefore  he  believes  that  Epimetheus, 
who  is  a  stupid  dolt,  must  guard  against  prosperity  and 
fear  it,  as  that  which  would  injure  and  destroy  him.  And 
in  another  instance  he  calls  that  which  befalls  men  by 
Fortune,  God's  gift,  when  he  says,  'See  that  thou  never 
cast  poverty  in  a  man's  teeth  as  a  deadly  ill,  for  'tis  ever  the 
gift  of  the  blessed  gods.'^  Consequently  it  is  wrong  to 
censure  those  whom  Fortune  has  made  poor,  since  poverty 
is  alone  a  reproach,  a  shame,  and  a  disgrace,  when  it  is 
attendant  upon  sloth,  'impotence,  and  prodigality.  For 
before  men  called  it  by  the  name  of  Fortune,  they  recog- 
nized that  there  was  a  powerful  cause,  irregular  and 
uncertain  in  its  movements,  the  inevitableness  of  which 
the  human  reason  could  not  control,  and  to  define  this  they 
used  the  names  of  the  gods,  just  as  we  are  wont  to  call 
deeds  and  characteristics,  and  also  even  maxims  and  men, 
divine  and  godlike.  Thus  we  may  rectify  many  seemingly 
absurd  statements  concerning  Zeus,  such  as  the  following 
for  example:   Tor  two  urns  stand  upon  the  floor  of  Zeus 

^11.  i.  5.  2  Compare  Gellius,  Nodes  Atticae  wn.  2.  14;  Eusebius, 

Praeparatio  Evangelica  vi.  8.  2.  ^  Nauck  695.  *  W.  and  D.  86. 

^Compare  Plutarch,  Of  Fortune  ii\  Schrader  276.  17. 
*Ibid.  717. 

70 


How  to  Study  Poetry 

filled  with  his  evil  gifts,  and  one  with  blessings;'^  'Our 
oaths  of  truce  Kronos'  son,  enthroned  on  high,  accomplished 
not;  but  evil  is  his  intent  and  ordinance  for  both  our 
hosts  ;'^  'For  in  those  days  the  first  wave  of  woe  was  rolling 
on  Trojans  and  Danaans  through  the  counsel  of  great 
Zeus'^  These  are  spoken  of  Fortune  or  of  Fate,  the  causes 
of  which  we  cannot  reason  out,  and  which,  in  short,  are  not 
our  concern.  But  when  reasonable  and  probable  senti- 
ments, such  as  befit  a  god,  are  expressed,  we  are  to  suppose 
that  the  name  of  the  god  is  used  in  its  strict  sense.  Note 
the  following  instances  of  this :  'He  ranged  among  the  ranks 
of  other  men,  but  he  avoided  the  battle  of  Ajax  son  of 
Telamon,  for  Zeus  would  have  been  wroth  with  him  if  he 
fought  with  a  better  man  than  himself;'*  'For  Zeus  busies 
himself  with  the  great  affairs  of  men,  but  passes  by  the 
small,  and  leaves  them  to  the  lesser  gods.'^ 

It  is  also  extremely  important  that  we  take  note  of  other 
words  to  which,  in  many  cases,  the  poets  by  metonymy  give 
other  than  their  ordinary  meanings.  Such  a  word  is  aperri 
{virtue).  For  since  virtue  not  only  makes  men  discreet, 
just,  and  good,  in  both  word  and  deed,  but  without  doubt 
also  secures  them  honor  and  power,  poets  see  fit  to  call 
reputation  and  power,  virtue,  just  as  we  indiscriminately 
call  both  the  olive  tree  and  its  fruit  cXota  {olive),  and  the  oak 
and  the  acorn  <;^>7yos  {oak).  So  when  a  young  man  reads 
such  passages  as  these,  'Then  the  Danaans  by  their  virtue 
brake  the  battalions ;'®  'If  death  is  the  common  lot  of  man- 
kind let  men  die  nobly,  merging  life  in  virtue  ;'^  he  should  at 
once  appreciate  that  the  poet  is  speaking  of  that  best  and 
most  divine  state  which  we  deem  to  be  rightness  of  reason, 
excellence  of  the  rational  nature,  and  a  normal  condition 
of  the  soul.^  But  when  he  reads,  'But  for  virtue,  Zeus 
increaseth  it  in  men  or  minisheth  it;'^  and    'Virtue  and 

* //.  xxiv.  527.     See  p.  55,  note.  ^11.  vii.  69. 

^Odys.  viii.  81.  ^11.  xi.  540.  ^  Hesiod,  W.  andD.  289. 

*//.  xi.  90.  L.  L.  and  M.  read  valour.  '  For  similar  definitions  after 
Zeno,  Chrysippus,  and  Cleanthes  compare  Diogenes  Laertius  vii.  89 ; 
Cicero,  Tusculanae  Disputationes  iv.  34  ;  Stobaeus,  Anthologium  ii. 

^  Nauck  529.  ^11.  XX.  242.     L.  L.  and  M.  read  valour. 

71 


Hoiv  to  Study  Poetry 

honour  upon  wealth  attend  ;'^  let  him  not  sit  down  in  gaping 
admiration  of  rich  men,  as  if  their  silver  straightway  could 
purchase  virtue,  nor  let  him  think  that  Fortune  may 
increase  or  lessen  his  wisdom,  but  rather  let  him  conceive 
that  the  poet  used  virtue  as  a  synonym  for  reputation,  power, 
prosperity,  or  some  such  word.  Also,  at  one  time  the  poet 
makes  KaKon^s  {evil)  stand  for  a  wicked  and  vicious  heart, 
as  in  Hesiod,  'For  evil  is  at  hand  in  great  abundance,'^ 
and  at  another  for  some  misfortune  or  ill-luck,  as  in  Homer, 
Tor  men  quickly  age  in  evil  fortune.'^  Then  any  one  would 
be  sadly  deceived  who  thought  that  the  poets,  like  phil- 
osophers, use  the  word  evSaufiovui  (happiness)  to  denote 
a  perfect  habitual  enjoyment  of  all  good  things,  or  the 
completeness  of  life  in  accordance  with  nature,  and  that 
they  do  not  frequently  misuse  the  word  by  calling  the  rich 
man  happy,  and  power  and  reputation  happiness.  Homer, 
indeed,  uses  these  words  correctly.  Thus  look  you,  I  have 
no  joy  of  my  lordship  among  these  my  possessions,'*  and 
Menander  as  well,  'For  my  much  possessions  I  am  called 
rich  by  all,  but  happy  by  none.'^  But  if,  as  said  above, 
one  does  not  attend  to  the  metaphorical  uses  and  misuses 
of  the  words,  Euripides  causes  much  misunderstanding  and 
confusion  when  he  writes,  'Let  not  a  life  of  weal  become 
a  life  of  woe  to  me ;'®  or,  'Why  honorest  thou  tyranny,  injus- 
tice triumphant?'^  But  enough  has  been  said  upon  this 
point. 

VII 

Another  principle  that  must  be  reiterated  in  teaching 
young  men  is,  that  while  poetry  is  based  upon  imitation, 
and  employs  embellishment  and  richness  of  diction  suited 
to  the  actions  and  characters  in  hand,^  it  does  not  resign 

*  fV.  andD.  313.       ^  ly^  ^^^  j)   287.       ^  Odys.  xix.  360.       *  Odys.  iv.  93. 

^  Meineke  iv.  266.  ^  Medea  Sg^-  '^  Phoeniss.   549. 

®  Poet.  vi.  2-3  :  '  Tragedy,  then,  is  an  imitation  of  an  action  that  is 
serious,  complete,  and  of  a  certain  magnitude  ;  in  language  embellished 
with  each  kind  of  artistic  ornament,  the  several  kinds  being  found  in 
separate  parts  of  the  play.  ...  By  "  language  embellished,"  I  mean 

72 


How  to  Study  Poetry 

the  likeness  of  the  truth,  since  the  charm  of  imitation  is 
probability.^  Wherefore  such  imitation  as  does  not  wholly 
ignore  the  truth  weaves  a  mixture  of  virtue  and  vice  into 
the  action.  This  is  done  in  the  poetry  of  Homer,  which 
completely  renounces  the  principles  of  the  Stoics,  who  hold 
that  nothing  bad  can  be  where  virtue  is,  and  nothing  good 
where  vice  is,  but  that  the  ignorant  man  is  ever  in  error, 
and  the  cultured  man  always  right.  Such  stuff  we  hear  in 
the  schools.  But  in  the  life  and  affairs  of  the  mass  of 
mankind,  according  to  the  judgment  of  Euripides,  'Virtue 
and  vice  are  never  found  alone,  but  blended,  as  it  were.' 

Now  since  poetry  does  not  keep  strictly  to  truth,  it  makes 
much  use  of  variety  and  transitions.^  For  reversals  of  for- 
tune furnish  plots  with  emotional  disturbance,  with  the  unex- 
pected and  surprising,  upon  which  deep  emotion  and  delight 
best  attend.  But  the  uncomplicated  is  not  fitted  to  stir 
emotion  and  serve  as  fiction.  Wherefore  the  poets  do  not 
make  their  characters  uniformly  victorious,  successful,  or 
happy,  nor  when  the  gods  engage  in  human  affairs  are  they 
represented  as  free  from  passion  and  error,  lest,  through 

language  into  which  rhythm,  "harmony,"  and  song  enter.  By  "the 
several  kinds  in  separate  parts,"  I  mean  that  some  parts  are  rendered 
through  the  medium  of  verse  alone,  others  again  with  the  aid  of  song.' 

^  See  p.  22,  note  2. 

2  Poet,  x-xiii :  '  Plots  are  either  Simple  or  Complicated.  .  .  .  An  action 
which  is  one  and  continuous,  .  .  I  call  Simple,  when  the  turning 
point  is  reached  without  Reversal  of  Fortune,  or  Recognition  ;  Compli- 
cated, when  it  is  reached  with  Reversal  of  Fortune  or  Recognition,  or 
both.  ...  A  Reversal  of  Fortune  is,  as  we  have  said,  a  change  by 
which  a  train  of  action  produces  the  opposite  of  the  effect  intended  ; 
and  that,  according  to  our  rule  of  probability  or  necessity.  ...  A 
Recognition  ...  is  a  change  from  ignorance  to  knowledge,  producing 
love  or  hate  between  the  persons  destined  by  the  poet  for  good  or  bad 
fortune.  ...  A  perfect  tragedy  should  be  arranged,  not  on  the  simple, 
but  on  the  complicated  plan.  ...  It  follows  plainly,  in  the  first  place, 
that  the  change  of  fortune  presented  must  not  be  the  spectacle  of  a 
perfectly  good  man  brought  from  prosperity  to  adversity :  for  this 
moves  neither  pity  nor  fear  ;  it  simply  shocks  us.  Nor,  again,  that  of 
a  bad  man  passing  from  adversity  to  prosperity  ;  ...  it  neither  satis- 
fies the  moral  sense,  nor  calls  forth  pity  or  fear.' 


73 


How  to  Study  Poetry 

absence  of  peril  and  conflict,  the  poem  should  fail  to  excite 
and  astonish.^ 


VIII 

Since  this  is  true,  we  should  so  guide  a  youth  in  his  early 
study  of  poetry  that  reverence  for  names  may  not  lead  him 
to  esteem  the  fair  and  stalwart  heroes  as  men  of  wisdom 
and  justice,  the  perfection  of  princes,  and  the  standard  of 
all  excellence  and  virtue.  For  he  will  suffer  harm  if  he 
thinks  all  their  acts  astonishingly  great,  and  is  quite  unwil- 
ling to  disapprove  of  them  himself,  or  to  accept  criticism 
from  others,  even  if  it  be  of  those  who  act  and  speak  as 
follows :  'For  would,  O  father  Zeus,  and  Athene,  and  Apollo, 
would  that  not  one  of  all  the  Trojans  might  escape  death, 
nor  one  of  the  Argives,  but  that  we  twain  might  avoid 
destruction,  that  alone  we  might  undo  the  sacred  coronal 
of  Troy  ;'^  and,  'Most  pitiful  of  all  that  I  heard  was  the  voice 
of  the  daughter  of  Priam,  of  Cassandra,  whom  hard  by  me 
the  crafty  Clytemnestra  slew;'^  and,  'So  she  besought  me 
continually  by  my  knees  to  go  in  first  unto  the  concubine, 
that  the  old  man  might  be  hateful  to  her;'*  and,  'Father 
Zeus,  surely  none  of  the  gods  is  cruder  than  thou.'^  A 
young  man  should  not  get  into  the  way  of  praising  any 
such  sentiment,  nor  of  showing  his  clever  powers  of  persua- 
sion in  finding  excuses  and  inventing  plausible  misinterpre- 
tations for  bad  passages;  rather  let  him  keep  in  mind  that 
poetry  is  an  imitation  of  character  and  life,  and  of  men  who 
are  not  wholly  perfect,  pure,  and  blameless,  but  in  some 
degree  subject  to  passion,  error,  and  ignorance,  who,  how- 

^  See  Plutarch's  essay  Concerning  Music  i6  :  'The  mixed  Lydian 
moves  the  affections,  and  is  fit  for  tragedies.  This  mood,  as  Aristoxe- 
nus  alleges,  was  invented  by  Sappho,  from  whom  the  tragedians 
learned  it  and  joined  it  with  the  Doric.  The  one  becomes  a  majestic, 
lofty  style,  the  other  mollifies  and  stirs  to  pity,  both  which  are  the 
properties  of  tragedy.' 

2//.  xvi.  97.  3  Odys.  xi.  421. 

*//.  ix.  452.  ^11.  iii.  365. 


How  to  Study  Poetry 

ever,  through  strength  of  character  are  often  changed  for 
the  better.^  For  if  his  mind  is  thus  prepared,  a  young  man 
will  receive  no  harm  from  his  reading,  for  while  he  will  be 
delighted  and  inspired  by  wise  words  and  acts,  he  will  not 
entertain,  but  dislike,  those  which  are  bad.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  man  who  admires  indiscriminately  and  accepts 
everything,  whose  judgment  is  enslaved  by  his  esteem  for 
the  names  of  heroes,  like  those  who  affect  Plato's  humpback 
and  the  lisping  of  Aristotle,  will  take  up  with  much  that  is 
bad  before  he  realizes  it.^ 

So  a  youth  must  not  be  timid,  nor,  like  superstitious  people 
in  a  temple,  prostrate  himself  in  holy  awe  of  everything,  but 
must  form  the  habit  of  pronouncing  his  judgment  with  con- 
fidence, as,  'This  was  right  and  proper ;'  'That  was  not  well/ 
For  example,  chafing  at  the  delays  in  the  campaign,  because 
he  was  extremely  desirous  of  winning  distinction  in  arms, 
Achilles  called  together  an  assembly  of  the  soldiers  while 
they  were  suffering  from  an  epidemic.  But  being  a  physi- 
cian, and  noting  that  the  decisive  ninth  day  of  the  malady 
was  passed,  he  perceived  that  the  sickness  was  not  an  ordi- 
nary one  nor  produced  by  usual  causes,  and  hence,  on  rising 
to  speak,  he  did  not  harangue  the  crowd,  but  counseled  the 
King,  'Son  of  Atreus,  now  deem  I  that  we  shall  return 
wandering  home  again  ;'^  and  he  spake  well  and  with  due 
moderation.  But  when  the  soothsayer  professed  fear  of 
the  anger  of  the  chief  of  the  Greeks,  observing  neither  wis- 
dom nor  moderation,  Achilles  swore  that  while  he  himself 
were  alive  no  one  should  lay  hands  on  the  old  man,  'not 
even  if  thou  mean  Agamemnon.'*  Here  he  showed  con- 
tempt and  disdain  for  his  commander.  And  when  he  was 
provoked  still  more,  he  unsheathed  his  sword,  thinking  to 
kill  the  king,  which  was  neither  right  nor  expedient.  But 
straightway  he  repented  and  'thrust  the  great  sword  back 
into  the  sheath,  and  was  not  disobedient  to  the  saying  of 
Athene.'^     And   this   last   act   was   right   and   noble,    for 

^  See  Butcher,  c.  viii,  on  The  Ideal  Tragic  Hero. 

'The  attitude  taken  is  Peripatetic  ;  see  Ps.-T>lutarch,  Of  the  Life  ana 
Poetry  of  Homer  135.  ^Il.\.  59.  '*//•  i.  90.  ^ //.  i.  220. 

75 


How  to  Study  Poetry 

although  he  was  not  able  wholly  to  quiet  his  anger,  he  yet 
made  it  obey  the  restraints  of  reason  before  it  was  too  late. 
Again,  Agamemnon  made  a  fool  of  himself  by  his  actions 
and  words  in  the  assembly,  but  in  the  Chryseis  affair  acted 
more  as  a  dignified  prince  should ;  for  though  Achilles  Svept 
anon,  and  sat  him  down  apart,'^  when  Briseis  was  taken  away 
from  him,  Agamemnon  put  on  board  ship,  gave  to  the  care 
of  others,  and  sent  away  the  woman,  who,  a  little  before, 
he  declared  was  dearer  to  him  than  his  lawful  wife.  Simi- 
larly, when  Phoenix  was  cursed  by  his  father  because  of  the 
concubine,  he  said.  Then  took  I  counsel  to  slay  him  with  the 
keen  sword ;  but  some  immortal  stayed  mine  anger,  bringing 
to  my  mind  the  people's  voice  and  all  the  reproaches  of  men, 
lest  I  should  be  called  a  father-slayer  amid  the  Achaians.'^ 
Aristarchus^  was  fearful  of  the  effect  of  this  passage,  and 
omitted  it;  but  it  served  a  legitimate  purpose,  for  Phoenix 
was  trying  to  show  Achilles  what  a  thing  is  wrath,  and  what 
men  do  in  anger,  heeding  neither  reason  nor  advice.  The 
poet  also  introduces  Meleager  at  first  highly  wroth  with  the 
citizens,  and  later  pacified.*  Thus  by  rightly  disparaging, 
he  encourages  one  not  to  yield  to  anger,  and  by  praising 
repentance  as  right  and  expedient,  encourages  one  to  battle 
against  passion  and  hold  sway  over  it.  But  where  it  is  no 
easy  matter  to  pass  judgment,  we  are  to  help  the  young 
man  to  distinguish  as  follows :  If  when  Nausicaa  beheld  the 
strange  Odysseus  she  felt  the  passion  of  Calypso  for  him, 
and  because  she  was  passionate  and  ripe  for  marriage  made 
such  light  talk  as  this  to  her  maidens,  'Would  that  such  an 
one  might  be  called  my  husband,  dwelling  here,  and  that  it 

»//.  i.  349.  2//ix.  458. 

3  Grammarian  and  critic  ;  222-150  B.C.  '  His  special  excellence  lay 
in  textual  criticism,  in  which  he  showed  great  acumen,  rare  powers  of 
divination,  and  soundness  of  method.  His  leading  principle  of  exe- 
gesis was  the  explanation  of  the  author  out  of  himself.  He  published 
a  large  number  of  corrected  texts,  with  critical  signs.  The  Homeric 
scholia  derive  much  of  their  value  from  the  preservation  of  the  criticisms 
of  Aristarchus.'  •*  See  //.  ix.  527-605. 


76 


How  to  Study  Poetry 

might  please  him  here  to  abide/^  then  her  boldness  and 
incontinence  were  blameworthy.  But  if,  because  she  recog- 
nized his  breeding  by  his  language  and  was  charmed  by 
his  intelligent  address,  she  wished  to  marry  him  in  prefer- 
ence to  a  dancing  fop  or  seaman  of  her  own  people,  she 
was  to  be  commended.^  Again,  Odysseus  was  pleased  that 
Penelope  conversed  in  a  free  and  easy  way  with  the  suitors, 
and  that  they  presented  to  her  robes  and  other  ornaments; 
now  if  his  pleasure  sprang  from  covetousness  and  greed, 
'because  she  drew  from  them  gifts,  and  beguiled  their  souls 
with  soothing  words,'^  he  was  a  worse  panderer  than  Polia- 
ger,  the  character  in  the  comedy,  'Happy  Poliager,  who  has 
as  paramour  a  gold-bringing  Capricorn/*  On  the  contrary, 
if  he  thought  that  the  hopes  which  Penelope  held  forth,  by 
making  the  suitors  over-confident  and  blinded  to  the  real 
issue,  would  put  them  more  within  his  power,  his  pleasure 
and  good  spirits  were  quite  proper.  Again,  after  the  Phaea- 
cians  had  set  him  ashore  with  his  treasure  and  departed,  if 
by  counting  it  over  in  such  a  lonely  place,  where  he  was 
ignorant  of  the  inhabitants,  he  showed  anxiety  for  his  goods, 
'lest  the  men  be  gone,  and  have  taken  back  of  their  gifts 
upon  their  hollow  ship,'**  his  covetousness  deserves  to  be 
pitied,  or  rather,  I  should  say,  to  be  abhorred.  But  if,  as 
some  think,  he  was  doubtful  whether  or  not  the  land  were 
Ithaca,  and  thought  that  to  find  his  goods  intact  would  be 
proof  of  the  sincerity  of  the  Phaeacians — for,  if  dishonest, 
they  would  not  set  him  down  on  a  strange  shore  free  of 
charge  and  leave  him  there  with  his  fKDSsessions  untouched — 
then  he  used  a  lawful  test,  and  deserves  to  be  commended 
for  his  good  sense.  Others  find  fault  with  his  being  put 
ashore  while  asleep,  if  indeed  the  incident  really  happened, 
and  say  that  the  Tuscans  preserve  a  tradition  that  he  was 
naturally  a  sleepy-head,  and  not  liked  on  that  account.  But 
if  the  sleep  was  not  genuine,  but  was  feigned  to  relieve  him 

^  Odys.  vi.  254. 

'  See  p.  107,  for  St.  Basil's  comment  on  this  episode. 
'   2  Odys.  xviii.  282.  *  Meineke  iv.  667.  ^  Odys.  xiii.  216. 


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How  to  Study  Poetry 

from  embarrassment — for  he  was  ashamed  to  dismiss  the 
Phaeacians  without  gifts  and  feasting,  yet  knew  that  such 
festivity  would  discover  him  to  his  enemies — they  approve  of 
the  episode.^ 

If  then  we  explain  this  principle  of  judgment  to  young 
men,  and  without  hesitation  censure  some  things  and  praise 
others,  we  shall  preserve  their  characters  from  corruption, 
and  arouse  their  emulation  of  what  is  good.  And  especially 
should  we  do  this  in  the  case  of  all  those  tragedies  in  which 
actions  ignoble  and  wicked  are  accompanied  by  persuasive 
and  subtle  words.  For  there  is  not  much  truth  in  the  say- 
ing of  Sophocles,  'From  acts  not  good,  good  words  may 
ne'er  proceed.'^  Indeed  he  himself  was  wont  to  connect 
pleasing  speeches  and  philanthropic  motives  with  base  char- 
acters and  irrational  actions.  And  in  a  fellow-author  you 
may  see  Phaedra  laying  on  Theseus  the  blame  of  her  inter- 
course with  Hippolytus,  on  the  ground  of  his  maltreatment 
of  her.^  Also  in  The  Trojan  Dames  he  allows  Helen  the 
same  license  of  speech  against  Hecuba,  who,  as  Helen  thinks, 
ought  to  be  punished  more  than  herself,  because  she  gave 
birth  to  her  seducer.*  Now  the  young  man  should  not  get 
into  the  way  of  thinking  anything  of  this  sort  clever  and 
shrewd,  nor  of  approving  such  sophistry,  but  he  should  dis- 
like such  words  more  than  the  licentious  deeds  they  excuse. 

IX 

Above  all  it  will  be  of  advantage  to  inquire  the  reason 
why  each  idea  is  expressed.  For  while  Cato  was  yet  a  mere 
child,  though  he  always  minded  his  tutor,  he  yet  asked 
the  cause  and  reason  of  the  commands.  To  be  sure,  the 
poets  are  not  to  be  obeyed  as  tutors  and  lawgivers,  unless 
their  thought  is  based  on  reason.  But  it  will  be  so  based 
if  it  is  morally  good,  and,  if  bad,  its  utter  emptiness  will  be 
apparent.      Now   the  average   man  questions   sharply   the 

'  Porphyrio  offers  similar  interpretations;  see  Schrader  117-118  ; 
Schlemm  proposes  a  common  Peripatetic  source. 

^  Nauck  247.  2  Nauck,  Eurip.  Fr.  430^.  113.  '*9I9- 

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Hozv  to  Study  Poetry 

reasonableness  of  such  words  as  the  following:  'Never  at 
drinking-bouts  should  we  place  the  ladle  upon  the  mixing- 
bowl;'^  and,  'Whensoever  a  warrior  from  the  place  of  his 
own  car  can  come  at  a  chariot  of  the  foe,  let  him  thrust 
forth  with  his  spear  ;'^  while  he  accepts  without  question 
even  worse  sentiments,  such,  for  example,  as  the  following: 
'The  consciousness  of  a  father's  or  a  mother's  wrong-doing 
makes  a  slave  of  any  man,  be  he  ever  so  daring;'^  and, 
'He  whom  fortune  has  opposed  must  needs  think  meanly  of 
himself.'*  And  yet  these  last  sentiments  affect  character  and 
injure  a  man  by  debasing  his  judgment  and  begetting  sordid 
ideas,  unless  he  is  accustomed  to  ask  in  reply,  'Why  now 
must  he  needs  think  meanly  of  himself  whom  fortune  has 
opposed?  Why  not  rather  resist  it  and  rise  unhumbled? 
And  why,  if  I  am  a  good  and  wise  son  of  a  parent  who  is 
foolish  and  bad,  should  I  not  rather  respect  myself  for  my  vir- 
tue than  be  dejected  and  cast  down  because  of  his  stupidity?'^ 
He  who  can  thus  stand  firm  against  all  such  sayings,  and 
not,  as  it  were,  surrender  himself  to  every  wind  of  doctrine, 
and  who  can  recognize  the  truth  of  the  proverb,  'The  dolt 
loves  to  fee  a  thrill  at  every  speech,'^  will  reject  such  judg- 
ments as  neither  truthful  nor  profitable.  These  suggestions 
will  render  harmless  the  study  of  poetry.'^ 

^  Hesiod,   W.  and  B.  744.  ^11.  iv.  306. 

^  Euripides,  Hippol.  424.  ^  Nauck  695. 

'  See  Of  the  Training  of  Children  ii,    where  Plutarch  reasons  very 
differently  from  this  same  passage  of  Euripides  :   '  For  the  spirits  of 
men   who   are   alloyed   and   counterfeit   in   their    birth   are   naturally 
enfeebled  and  debased  ;  as  rightly  said  the  poet  again, — 
A  bold  and  daring  spirit  is  often  daunted, 
When  with  the  guilt  of  parents'  crimes  'tis  haunted.' 

[This  translation  is  from  the  Goodwin  edition.] 

*  Mullach  I.  326. 

'  This  style  of  criticism  follows  Bion,  who  attacks  this  same  line  from 
Euripides ;  see  Diogenes  Laertius  iv.  51,  and  Schlemm's  comment,  65. 


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How  to  Study  Poetry 


X 

As  on  a  vine  the  leaves  and  branches  frequently  cover 
up  and  conceal  the  ripe  fruit,  so  the  diction  of  poetry  and 
its  profusion  of  fictitious  narrative  conceal  many  useful  and 
helpful  things  from  the  attention  of  a  young  man.  Now  he 
ought  not  to  be  thus  led  astray,  but  rather  to  give  himself 
wholly  to  those  things  which  make  for  virtue  and  exert  a 
powerful  influence  upon  character.  I  shall  therefore  develop 
this  thought,  though  briefly  and  only  in  outline,  leaving  it  to 
more  ostentatious  writers  to  verify  and  illustrate  my  ideas. 
First  then,  let  the  youth,  knowing  well  the  good  and  bad 
respectively  in  manners  and  men,  turn  his  attention  to  the 
words  and  deeds  which  the  poet  attributes  to  his  several 
characters.  Though  he  is  speaking  in  anger,  Achilles  says 
to  Agamemnon,  'Never  win  I  meed  like  unto  thine,  when 
the  Achaians  sack  any  populous  citadel  of  Trojan  men,'^ 
but  Thersites  addresses  him  abusively,  'Surely  thy  huts  are 
full  of  bronze  and  many  women  are  in  thy  huts,  the  chosen 
spoils  that  we  Achaians  give  thee  first  of  all,  whene'er  we 
take  a  town.'^  Again,  Achilles  says,  If  ever  Zeus  grant 
us  to  sack  some  well-walled  town  of  Troy-land,'^  but  Ther- 
sites, 'whom  I  perchance  or  some  other  Achaian  have  led 
captive.'*  At  another  time,  when  Agamemnon,  inspecting 
the  army,  speaks  abusively  to  Diomedes,  the  latter  makes  no 
reply,  'but  had  respect  to  the  chiding  of  the  king  revered,'^ 
but  Sthenelus,  a  fellow  of  no  account,  says,  'Atreides,  utter 
not  falsehood,  seeing  thou  knowest  how  to  speak  truly.  We 
avow  ourselves  to  be  better  men  by  far  than  our  fathers 
were.'®  If  such  differences  are  not  overlooked  they  will 
teach  a  youth  to  regard  modesty  and  moderation  as  the 
marks  of  gentility,  but  to  shun  boasting  and  bragging  as 
vulgar.  It  is  worth  while,  in  this  connection  to  notice  the 
conduct  of  Agamemnon ;  for  he  passes  Sthenelus  by  without 

1//.  i.  163.  2//.  ii.  226.  ^//.  i.  128. 

*//.  ii.  231.  **//.  iv.  402.  •//.  iv.  404. 


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How  to  Study  Poetry 

noticing  him,  yet  he  does  not  neglect  Odysseus,  but  answers 
him,  'seeing  how  he  was  wroth,  and  took  back  his  saying/* 
Had  he  apologized  to  all,  he  would  have  appeared  undigni- 
fied and  servile,  and  had  he  disdained  all,  arrogant  and 
unreasonable.  Best  of  all  is  the  conduct  of  Diomedes,  for 
during  the  battle  he  bears  in  silence  the  king's  abuse,  but 
after  the  battle  deals  plainly  with  him,  saying,  'My  valour 
didst  thou  blame  in  chief  amid  the  Danaans.'^ 

It  is  also  a  good  idea  to  take  notice  of  the  difference  between 
the  ways  in  which  a  discreet  man  and  a  pompous  soothsayer 
addresses  a  crowd.  Thus  Calchas,  since  he  lacks  a  sense 
of  the  fitness  of  things,  scruples  not  to  denounce  the  King 
in  public  as  accountable  for  the  plague.  But  when  Nestor 
would  conciliate  Achilles,  in  order  that  before  the  multitude 
he  may  not  seem  to  accuse  the  king  of  erroneous  passion, 
he  advises,  'Spread  thou  a  feast  for  the  councilors ;  that  is 
thy  place,  and  seemly  for  thee.  ...  In  the  gathering  of 
many  shalt  thou  listen  to  him  that  deviseth  the  most  excellent 
counsel  ;'^  accordingly,  after  the  meal  he  sends  out  the  elders. 
This  last  course  tends  to  correct  the  mistake,  but  the  other 
was  an  insulting  accusation. 

One  should  notice  as  well  the  differences  in  racial  char- 
acteristics. For  example,  the  Trojans  rush  ferociously  to 
battle  with  savage  cries,  but  the  Greeks  'in  silence  feared 
their  captains;'*  for  to  fear  officers  in  the  presence  of  the 
enemy  is  the  mark  of  heroism  and  obedience.  Wherefore 
Plato  was  wont  to  fear  reproach  and  shame  more  than  pains 
and  perils,  and  Cato  said  that  he  liked  men  who  blush  better 
than  those  who  blanch.     Then  too,  a  promise  has  its  own 

*//.  iv.  357.  ^11.  ix.  34.     Compare  comments  of  Porphyrio, 

Schrader  75.  4  ;  Ps.-Plutarch  168.  ^11.  ix.  70. 

*  II.  iv.  431.  See  Rep.  iii.  389  :  'Then  would  you  praise  or  blame  the 
injunction  of  Diomedes  in  Homer — , 

"Friends,   sit  still  and  obey  my  word  (//.  iv.  412)," 
and  the  verses  which  follow — 

"The  Greeks  marched  breathing  prowess  (//.  iii.  8.)," 
"  In  silent  awe  of  their  leaders  (//.  iv.  431)," 
and  other  sentiments  of  the  same  kind  ? 
They  are  good.' 

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How  to  Study  Poetry 

peculiar  worth;  Dolon  promises,  'I  will  go  straight  to  the 
camp,  until  I  may  come  to  the  ship  of  Agamemnon,'^  but 
Diomedes  makes  no  promise,  and  only  says  that  he  will 
fear  the  less  if  a  companion  be  sent  with  him.  Hence  fore- 
sight is  Grecian  and  civil ;  rashness,  barbaric  and  rude ;  the 
one  to  be  emulated,  the  other  to  be  avoided.^ 

It  is  also  not  unprofitable  to  notice  the  state  of  mind 
of  the  Trojans  and  of  Hector,  when  he  and  Ajax  are  about 
to  engage  in  single  combat.  When  a  great  cry  went  up 
because  one  of  the  boxers  in  the  Isthmian  games  received 
a  blow  in  the  face,  Aeschylus  said,  'See  what  training  does 
for  one;  the  spectators  cry  out,  but  the  man  who  was 
struck  says  not  a  word !'  Likewise,  when  the  poet  says  that 
the  Greeks  rejoiced  when  they  saw  Ajax  approaching 
resplendent  with  armor,  but  that  'sore  trembling  came  upon 
the  Trojans,  on  the  limbs  of  every  man,  and  Hector's  own 
heart  beat  within  his  breast,'^  who  does  not  wonder  at  the 
difference?  The  heart  of  him  who  risks  himself  only  beats 
inwardly,  as  of  one  engaging  in  a  wrestling-match,  or  rather 
in  running  a  race,  while  the  bodies  of  the  spectators  tremble 
and  shake  in  apprehension  for  the  safety  of  their  beloved 
prince.*  In  the  same  poet  one  may  observe  the  difference 
between  a  very  brave  man  and  the  worst  of  knaves,  for 
Thersites  'was  hateful  to  Achilles  above  all  and  to  Odys- 
seus,'^ but  Ajax,  ever  friendly  to  Achilles,  says  of  him  to 
Hector,  'Now  verily  shalt  thou  well  know,  man  to  man,  what 
manner  of  princes  the  Danaans  likewise  have  among  them, 
even  after  Achilles,  render  of  men,  the  lion-hearted.'®  This 
is  a  veritable  panegyric  of  Achilles,  and  is  followed  by  hearty 
commendation  of  the  soldiers  in  general,  'Yet  are  we  such 
as  to  face  thee,  yea,  and  many  of  us  ;'^  here  Ajax  does  not 
say  that  he  is  the  best  and  only  champion,  but  one  of  many 
able  to  do  battle.^ 

1//.  X.  325.  *  Almost  the  same  words  occur  in  Ps. -Plutarch  149. 

3//.  vii.  215.  **  Compare  Ps. -Plutarch  135.  ^  II.  n.  220. 

^11.  vii.  226.  '//.  vii.  231.  8  This  sentence  closely  resembles 

he  scholium  of  Aristarchus. 


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Hozv  to  Study  Poetry 

Enough  now  as  to  this  matter  of  contrasts,  unless  we  wish 
to  add  that  many  a  Trojan  was  taken  alive,  but  not  a  single 
Greek,  and  that  some  of  the  Trojans  begged  for  mercy,  as, 
for  example,  Adrastus,  the  sons  of  Antimachus,  and  Lycaon, 
and  that  even  Hector  besought  Achilles  for  burial,  but  that 
no  one  of  the  Greeks  did  such  a  thing;  showing  that  it  is 
characteristic  of  barbarians  to  bow  the  suppliant  knee  on 
the  field,  but  of  Greeks  to  conquer  or  die. 

XI 

As  in  pastures  the  bee  seeks  the  flower,  the  goat  seeks  the 
bud,  the  hog  the  root,  and  other  creatures  the  fruit  and 
seed,  so  in  reading  poetry  one  man  culls  the  flowers  of 
history,  another  dwells  upon  the  beauty  and  the  arrange- 
ment of  words,  as  Aristophanes,  who  says  of  Euripides,  T 
delight  in  his  imposing  rhetoric,'^  and  still  others — ^and  to 
this  class  I  am  now  addressing  myself — are  concerned  with 
those    ideas    which    strengthen   character.     Such    must   be 
made  to  see  how  deplorable  it  is  that  the  lover  of  fiction 
should  allow  nothing  of  novelty  and  extravagance  in  narra- 
tive to  escape  him,  and  the  philologist  notice  the  rhetorical 
purity  of  every  sentence,  but  the  devotee  of  honor  and  virtue, 
who  studies  poetry  for  instruction  rather  than  for  pleasure, 
read  with  careless  indifference  writings  which  commend  man- 
liness, temperance,  and  justice.     Take  for  example  the  fol- 
lowing :  'Tydeus'  son,  what  ails  us  that  we  forget  our  impet- 
uous valor?     Nay,  come  hither,  friend,  and  take  thy  stand 
by  me,  for  verily  it  will  be  shame  if  Hector  of  the  gleaming 
helm  take  the  ships. '^     For  to  see  a  man  of  preeminent 
wisdom  in  danger  of  utter  defeat  an<d  death,  with  all  his 
companions  yet  fearing  the  disgrace  and  dishonor,  but  not 
death,  will  arouse  a  young  man  to  passionate  devotion  to 
duty.     The  following  passage,  'And  Athene  rejoiced  in  the 
wisdom  and  judgment  of  the  man,'^   shows  the  author's 
sentiment,  as  he  does  not  make  the  goddess  delight  in  a  man 
of  wealth,  or  of  bodily  beauty  or  strength,  but  in  one  who 
is  wise  and  just.     And  when  elsewhere  she  says  that  she  does 

"^  Frag.  397.  2//.  xi.  313.  ^  Odys.  iii.  352. 

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How  to  Study  Poetry 

not  disregard  nor  desert  Odysseus,  'So  wary  art  thou,  so 
ready  of  wit  and  so  prudent,'^  we  are  told  that  of  all  things 
pertaining  to  us  virtue  alone  is  dear  to  the  gods  and  divine, 
for  like  attracts  like.^ 

To  master  one's  anger  not  only  appears  to  be  a  great 
achievement,  but  is  so  in  reality,  yet  it  is  a  far  greater 
by  forethought  to  guard  against  anger,  lest  one  be  betrayed 
into  it  or  be  overpowered  by  it;  therefore  it  should  be 
pointed  out  to  readers  in  no  uncertain  way  that  Achilles, 
a  man  who  is  neither  patient  nor  mild,  exhorts  Priam  to 
keep  quiet  and  not  provoke  him;  'No  longer  chafe  me,  old 
sire;  of  myself  am  I  minded  to  give  Hector  back  to  thee, 
for  there  came  to  me  a  messenger  from  Zeus.  .  .  .  Lest  I 
leave  not  even  thee  in  peace,  old  sire,  within  my  hut,  albeit 
thou  art  my  suppliant,  and  lest  I  transgress  the  command- 
ment of  Zeus.'^  So  he  himself  washes  the  body  of  Hector, 
and,  covering  it,  places  it  upon  the  car  before  the  father  is 
allowed  to  see  it,  so  mutilated  is  it,  'lest  he  should  not  refrain 
the  wrath  at  his  sorrowing  heart  when  he  should  look  upon 
his  son,  and  lest  Achilles'  heart  be  vexed  thereat,  and  he  slay 
him  and  transgress  the  commandment  of  Zeus.'* 

It  is  indeed  admirable  forethought  for  the  man  who  is 
prone  to  anger,  and  of  a  harsh  and  hasty  disposition,  not 
to  be  unmindful  of  his  weakness,  but  carefully  to  guard 
against  the  causes  of  anger,  vigilantly  anticipating  them 
by  the  use  of  reason,  in  order  not  to  be  betrayed  unex- 
pectedly. Likewise,  the  man  who  is  fond  of  wine  must 
guard  against  drunkenness,  and  the  passionate  man  against 
lust,  as  Agesilaus^  did,  who  would  not  suffer  himself  to 
be  caressed  by  a  beautiful  person  who  approached  him, 
and  as  Cyrus,  who  dared  not  look  upon  Panthea.®  On  the 
other  hand,  those  who  do  not  know  themselves  gather  fuel 
for  their  passions,  and  are  especially  hurried  on  to  those 

^  Odys.  xiii.  332.  ^Eustathius,  Comment.  adOdyss.  1456.  59, 

expresses  the  same  thought.  ^11.  xxiv.  560.  ^11.  xxiv.  584. 

^  Spartan  general  and  king,  who  began  to  reign  in  398  B.C.  Agesilaus 
made  a  successful  invasion  of  Asia  Minor,  and  was  leader  in  the  wars 
between  Sparta  and  Thebes,  when  he  fought  against  Epaminondas. 

^Xenophon,  Cyropaedia,     Seep.  iii. 

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Hozi}  to  Study  Poetry 

which  are  evil  and  destructive.  Now  Odysseus  not  only 
restrains  his  own  wrath,  but,  seeing  from  the  conversation 
that  Telemachus  is  dangerously  wroth  with  the  knaves,  allays 
the  anger  of  his  son,  and  manages  to  quiet  and  pacify  him, 
urging,  'And  if  they  shall  evilly  entreat  me  in  the  house,  let 
thy  heart  harden  itself  to  endure  while  I  am  shamefully 
handled,  yea  even  if  they  drag  me  by  the  feet  through  the 
house  to  the  doors,  or  cast  at  me  and  smite  me,  still  do  thou 
bear  the  sight.'^  Just  as  horses  are  not  bridled  during  the 
race,  but  before  it,  so  those  who  are  very  hot-tempered  and 
lack  self-control  should  anticipate  their  temptations,  and  so 
prepare  themselves  by  reason  to  meet  them.^ 

In  interpretation,  the  etymologies  of  words  are  also  to 
be  noticed  with  some  care,  though  one  must  refuse  such 
childish  fancies  as  Cleanthes^  suggests,  who,  in  such  pas- 
sages as  Zcv  TTttTcp *l8iy^cv  /AcSeW  {Zeus  ruling  from  Ida),^  and 
Zcv  ava  AwScovatc  (Zeus,  Dodonian  King),^  fancifully  explains 
that  the  latter  should  read,  dmSwSwvarc,  from  dmSoorts  {upward 
giving),  referring  to  exhalation  from  the  earth,  which  Zeus 
by  metonymy  sometimes  denotes.  Chrysippus*  also  quibbles 
a  good  deal,  for  his  etymologies,  while  not  altogether  child- 
ish, are  improbable,  as  when  he  construes  evpvoira  KpoviSrji 
{far-seeing  son  of  Cronos)  to  mean  Zeus's  power  of 
persuasion  and  logic.  But  such  discussions  are  better  left 
to  the  grammarians,  while  we  lay  hold  instead  of  those  ideas 
which  are  both  profitable  and  plausible,  such  as  these,  'More- 
over mine  own  soul  forbiddeth  me,  seeing  I  have  learnt 
ever  to  be  valiant  ;'^  and,  'for  he  would  be  gentle  unto  all.'^ 

^  Odys.  xvi.  274.  2  Self-control  was  a  teaching  of  the  Stoics  ;  see 

Seneca,  De  Ira  i.  8.  i  ;  9.  i  ;  12.  5. 

^  Stoic  philosopher  and  disciple  of  Zeno,  whom  he  succeeded  as  head 
of  the  Stoic  school  (260  B.C.).  "*//.  iii.  320.  ^ //.  xvi.  233. 

^Eminent  Stoic  philosopher  ;  born  280  B.C.  Chrysippus  was  a  pupil 
of  Cleanthes,  and  was  distinguished  for  his  skill  in  dialectics  and  his 
subtlety  as  a  disputant.  He  once  said  to  Cleanthes  :  '  Teach  me  only 
your  doctrines,  and  I  will  find  the  arguments  to  defend  them.'  He 
was  considered  to  be  the  greatest  Stoic  philosopher  except  Zeno. 

'//.  vi.  444.     Compare  Ps. -Plutarch  144.  ^11.  xvii.  671. 


85 


Hozv  to  Study  Poetry 

For  the  poet  demonstrates  that  a  manly  bearing  may  be 
acquired,  and  believes  that  the  ability  to  converse  kindly  and 
graciously  with  men  comes  from  experience  and  attentive 
observation ;  therefore,  since  awkwardness  and  timidity  are 
expressive  of  boorishness  and  ignorance,  he  urges  us  not 
to  be  neglectful  of  ourselves,  but  to  learn  nobility  from  our 
teachers.  And  the  following  of  Zeus  and  Poseidon  is  in 
strict  accord  with  this  thought:  'Verily  both  were  of  the 
same  lineage  and  the  same  place  of  birth,  but  Zeus  was  the 
elder  and  the  wiser  ;'^  for  Homer  here  argues  that  wisdom 
{<f>p6v7j(TK)  is  the  most  divine  and  kingly  quality,  and  that 
therein  consists  the  supreme  preeminence  of  Zeus,  since  it  is 
the  source  of  all  the  other  virtues. 

A  young  man  should  also  become  accustomed  to  give 
vigilant  heed  to  such  sentiments  as  these:  'And  he  will 
not  lie  to  thee,  for  he  is  very  wise  ;'2  ' Antilochus,  who  once 
wert  wise,  what  thing  is  this  thou  hast  done?  Thou  hast 
shamed  my  skill  and  made  my  horses  fail  ;'^  'Glaukos,  where- 
fore hath  such  an  one  as  thou  spoken  thus  over  measure? 
Out  on  it,  I  verily  thought  that  thou  in  wisdom  wert  above 
all  others.'*  For  a  wise  man  does  not  lie,  nor  take  an  unfair 
advantage  in  athletic  contests,  nor  bring  false  accusations 
against  another  man.  And  when  the  poet  says  that  Pan- 
darus  was  led  by  his  folly  to  violate  the  truce,  it  is  evident 
that  he  believes  that  a  man  of  wisdom  would  not  do  an 
unjust  act. 

The  like  is  also  taught  of  self-control  in  such  passages 
as  the  following,  'Now  Proitos'  wife,  goodly  Anteia,  lusted 
after  him,  to  have  converse  in  secret  love,  but  no  whit  pre- 
vailed she,  for  the  uprightness  of  his  heart,  on  wise  Bellero- 
phon;'^  'Verily  at  the  first  she  would  none  of  the  foul  deed, 
the  fair  Clytemnestra,  for  she  had  a  good  understanding;'^ 
for  in  these  the  poet  represents  self-control  as  resulting 
from  wisdom.  And  when  in  the  instances  of  hortatory 
addresses    during    battles    he    says,    'Shame,    ye    Lykians, 

1//.  xiii.  354.  "^  Odys.  iii.  20.  ^11.  xxiii.  570. 

*//.  xvii.  170.  ^11.  vi.  160.  ^Odvs.  iii.  265. 

86 


How  to  Study  Poetry 

whither  do  ye  flee  ?  Now  be  ye  strong  ;'^  and  'But  let  each 
man  conceive  shame  in  his  heart,  and  indignation,  for  verily 
great  is  the  strife  that  hath  arisen  ;'2  he  declares  that  the 
man  of  self-control  is  the  brave  man,  because  he  is  ashamed 
to  do  a  base  act,  and  is  able  to  ignore  pleasure,  and  to 
encounter  dangers.  In  line  with  this,  in  the  Persae  Timo- 
theus  spiritedly  and  well  exhorts  the  Greeks,  'Respect  honor 
as  the  soldier's  ally/^  Aeschylus  also,  in  writing  of  Amphi- 
araus,  places  it  to  one's  credit  not  to  be  puffed  up  and 
arrogant,  nor  to  lose  one's  head  at  the  plaudits  of  the  multi- 
tude, 'For  his  desire  is  not  to  seem  the  bravest,  but  to  be, 
and  he  reaps  in  thought  the  deep  furrow,  whence  grows  the 
fruit  of  good  counsel.'*  For  it  is  the  part  of  a  wise  man 
to  feel  confidence  in  himself  and  in  his  own  true  worth. 
Since,  then,  all  excellencies  are  reducible  to  wisdom,  it  fol- 
lows that  every  kind  of  virtue  is  a  product  of  reason  and 
education. 


XII 

As  the  bee  instinctively  gathers  the  smoothest  and  sweet- 
est honey  from  the  most  bitter  blossoms  and  the  sharpest 
thistles,  so,  if  trained  rightly  in  the  poets,  boys  will  learn 
in  one  way  or  another  to  gather  something  useful  and 
profitable  from  suspiciously  vulgar  and  irrational  passages. 
For  example,  it  certainly  looks  very  much  as  if  Agamemnon 
were  bribed  when  he  dismisses  from  the  army  the  rich  man 
who  presented  Aethe  to  him:  'Her  unto  Agamemnon  did 
Anchises'  son  Echepolos  give  in  fee,  that  he  might  escape 
from  following  him  to  windy  Ilios  and  take  his  pleasure 
at  home;  for  great  wealth  had  Zeus  given  him.'^  Yet, 
as  Aristotle  observes,^  he  did  right  in  preferring  a  good 
mare  to  such  a  man,  because  a  coward  weakling,  effem- 
inate through  wealth  and  luxury,   is  of  less  worth  than 

^11.  xvi,  422.  *//.  xiii.  121.  ^Bergk  3.  622. 

^  Sept.  579.     The  translation  is  after  Verrall. 

^  //.  xxiii.  297.  ®  Probably  in  the  Homeric  Questions. 

87 


How  to  Study  Poetry 

2l  dog,  yea,  or  even  an  ass.  Again  it  seems  most  shame- 
ful in  Thetis  to  encourage  her  son  in  pleasure,  and  to 
remind  him  of  the  delights  of  love.  But,  on  the  other  hand, 
it  is  well  to  compare  the  self-control  of  Achilles,  for,  though 
he  loves  Briseis,  who  has  come  back  to  him,  yet  because  he 
knows  that  his  days  here  are  numbered,  he  does  not  hasten  to 
the  fruition  of  pleasure ;  further  he  does  not  mourn  for  his 
friend  by  inactivity  and  neglect  of  duty,  as  other  men  are 
wont,  for  though  in  his  sorrow  he  refrains  from  pleasure,  he 
yet  busies  himself  with  the  affairs  of  the  army.  Again, 
Archilochus  is  not  praised  because  he  tries  by  drinking  and 
carousing  to  dispel  his  grief  for  a  brother-in-law  who  had 
been  drowned  in  the  sea ;  yet  he  offers  a  plausible  excuse : 
*My  grief  will  cure  no  ill,  nor  will  my  pleasure  and  feasting 
make  matters  worse. '^  Now  if  he  thought  he  did  no  harm 
in  following  after  pleasure  and  feasting,  how  shall  we  do 
worse  if  we  study  philosophy,  or  conduct  public  affairs,  or 
visit  the  market,  or  descend  to  the  Academy,  or  engage  in 
husbandry?  Wherefore  the  corrections  of  Cleanthes  and 
Antisthenes^  are  not  without  value.  For,  seeing  the  Athe- 
nians in  an  uproar  in  the  theatre  because  of  these  words, 
'What  is  base  save  to  those  who  take  it  so?'^  Antisthenes 
straightway  objected,  ^The  base  is  base,  seem  it  so  or  not;' 
and  Cleanthes,  hearing  this  of  wealth,  'To  give  to  one's 
friends  and  to  save  one's  body  when  diseased,'*  altered  it  to 
read,  *To  give  to  harlots  and  to  inflame  one's  body  when 
diseased.'  Zeno  also  amended  the  following  of  Sophocles, 
'Whoever  journeys  to  a  tyrant's  house  becomes  his  slave, 
e'en  though  he  entered  free,'^  to  'Nay,  not  a  slave,  if  really 
free  on  entering,'  meaning  by  free  independent,  high-minded, 
and  self-respecting. 

^  Bergk  2.  387. 

^  Eminent  Cynic  philosopher ;  pupil  and  friend  of  Socrates,  and  the 
teacher  of  Diogenes.  '  Antisthenes  was  simple  in  life,  despised  riches 
and  sensual  pleasure,  and  emphasized  practical  morality.' 

^  Nauck  293  ;  Eurip.  Frag.  19. 

^Eurip.  Electra  428.  ^  Nauck  253. 


88 


How  to  Study  Poetry 

Now  what  hinders  us  also  from  making  similar  emenda- 
tions, in  order  to  influence  young  men  for  the  better? 
Thus,  why  not  change  such  a  passage  as  this,  'That  man 
is  to  be  envied,  who  so  aims  as  to  hit  his  wish,'^  to  read, 
'who  so  aims  as  to  hit  his  advantage?'  for  to  get  and  have 
things  wrongly  desired  merits  pity,  not  envy.  When  we 
read  this  passage,  'Not  to  all  good  without  a  taste  of  ill 
did  Atreus  beget  thee,  Agamemnon;  but  thou  art  destined 
both  to  joy  and  to  grieve,'^  let  us  much  rather  say,  Tt  must 
be  thine  to  rejoice,  but  not  to  grieve,  if  moderate  thy 
means,  because,  "Not  to  all  good,  without  a  taste  of  ill,  did 
Atreus  beget  thee." '  The  poet  says,  'Alas !  'tis  a  curse 
sent  by  the  gods  on  man,  to  behold  the  good  but  accept  it 
not;'^  rather,  'It  is  a  brutal,  unreasonable,  and  deplorable 
thing  for  one  who  appreciates  the  better  part  to  be  led 
away  to  the  worse  through  incontinence  and  effeminacy.' 
Again,  'A  speaker  influences  by  character,  not  by  speech;'* 
nay,  'by  both  character  and  speech,'  or  better,  'by  character 
through  speech,'  as  does  a  horseman  by  the  bridle  and  a 
pilot  by  the  rudder,  since  virtue  has  no  other  instrument  so 
pleasing  to  people  as  speech  nor  so  fitted  by  nature  to  influ- 
ence mankind.  This  passage,  '  "Inclines  he  more  to  man 
or  woman?"  "To  each  alike,  when  beauty  is  present;'"*^ 
should  be  altered  to  read,  'To  each  alike,  when  good  sense 
is  present,'  as  indicating  a  finely-balanced  nature;  for 
the  man  so  greatly  influenced  by  pleasure  and  youthful 
beauty  is  weak  and  unstable.  This  sentiment,  'The  gods 
cause  men  to  fear,'^  is  by  no  means  true,  but  rather,  'The 
gods  give  courage  to  men,'  and  fear  only  to  those  who 
are  senseless,  unreasonable,  and  ungrateful,  who  are  sus- 
picious lest  that  power  which  is  the  origin  and  first  princi- 
ple of  every  good  be  injurious.  Such  then  is  the  character 
of  emendation. 

^  Nauck  695.  ^Eurip.  Iph.  Aul.  29.  ^  Nauck  449. 

*  Meineke  iv.  209.  ^  Nauck  288.  ^  Ibid.  695. 


89 


How  to  Study  Poetry 

XIII 

A  further  use  to  which  poetry  may  be  put  is  well 
explained  by  Chrysippus,  namely,  classification  or  generali- 
zation. For,  in  saying,  'An  ox  would  not  be  killed  unless 
its  neighbor  were  bad,'^  Hesiod  says  the  same  of  a  dog, 
an  ass,  or  any  other  animal  liable  to  be  lost  in  the  same 
way.  Also,  the  saying  of  Euripides,  'Who  then  is  a  slave 
if  he  be  indifferent  to  death  ?'^  may  be  applied  to  toil  or 
to  sickness.  As  when  physicians  discover  the  efficacy  of 
a  drug  in  curing  a  case,  they  assign  the  drug  to  all  other 
cases  of  the  same  disease,  so  a  universally  applicable  gen- 
eralization is  not  to  be  confined  to  the  one  specific  thing 
to  which  it  was  at  first  applied,  but  is  to  be  transferred  to 
all  other  members  of  the  same  category,^  and  young  men 
should  become  accustomed  to  recognize  the  affinities 
between  things,  and  to  make  such  transfers  of  application 
with  insight,  exercising  and  training  their  perceptive  pow- 
ers by  constant  practice.  Thus  when  Menander  says 
'Blessed  is  he  who  being  and  wisdom  hath,'*  they  should 
recognize  that  the  like  may  be  said  of  reputation,  of 
authority,  and  of  eloquence.  Also,  it  should  be  appre- 
ciated that  the  reproof  which  Odysseus  administers  to 
Achilles  seated  amidst  the  Scyrian  maids,  'Dost  thou 
destroy  the  splendor  of  thy  birth  by  carding  wool,  thou, 
sprung  from  a  father  noblest  of  the  Greeks?'^  could  be 
applied  to  the  profligate  man,  the  covetous,  the  heedless, 
or  the  ignorant;  thus,  'Art  thou  drunken,  thou,  sprung 
from  a  father  noblest  of  the  Greeks?'  or,  'Dost  thou  play 
at  dice,  or  strike  at  quail,  or  drive  a  petty  trade,  or  practise 
sordid  usury,  with  no  thought  for  those  high  things  worthy 

1  W.  and  D.  348.  2  Nauck  523. 

^  Such  illustrations  were  much  employed  by  the  Stoics  ;  see  Cicero, 
Tusculanae  Disputationes  iv.    10.  23  :    *  Hoc  loco  nimium  operae  con- 
sumitur  a  Stoicis,  maxime  a  Chrysippo,   dum   morbis  corporum  com 
paratur  morborum  animi  similitudo.'    See  also  Zeller,  Gesch.  d.  Gr.  Ph. 
ii.  I.  285. 

*  Meineke  iv.  103.  ^  Nauck  653. 


90 


How  to  Study  Poetry 

of  thy  good  birth?'  When  young  men  read  these  words: 
'Talk  not  of  wealth;  I  reverence  not  a  god  which  even 
the  worst  of  men  easily  obtains/^  they  may  infer  that 
popular  esteem  is  not  to  be  praised,  nor  physical  beauty, 
nor  military  cloaks,  nor  sacerdotal  crowns,  all  of  which 
we  see  to  be  the  possessions  of  the  worst  of  men.  Thus 
when  they  read,  'Cowardice  begets  base  children,'^  they 
may  say,  'Very  true,  but  so  does  intemperance,  super- 
stition, envy,  and  every  other  disease/  When  Homer, 
using  the  word  best  in  two  connections,  says,  'Evil  Paris, 
best  in  form,^  and,  'Hector,  best  in  form,'*  he  is  teach- 
ing that  one  who  has  in  him  nothing  good  save  physical 
beauty  is  worthy  of  blame  and  reproach.  This  sentiment 
should  be  transferred  to  like  faults,  to  restrain  those  who 
are  boastful  of  fictitious  excellencies,  and  to  teach  youth 
that  such  expressions  as,  'O  thou  that  excellest  in  wealth,' 
'O  thou  that  excellest  in  feasting,'  'O  thou  that  excellest 
in  servants  and  flocks,'  and,  yea,  'O  thou  that  excellest' — 
in  everything  to  the  end  of  the  list,  imply  censure  and 
reproach;  for  one  should  seek  preeminence  in  good  deeds 
and  words,  to  be  first  in  those  things  which  are  first,  and 
great  in  those  things  which  are  greatest,  since  reputation 
gained  from  things  small  and  mean  is  inglorious  and  dis- 
honorable. 

Careful  observation  of  instances  of  censure  and  praise, 
especially  in  the  works  of  Homer,  will  impress  this  upon  us, 
for  he  is  at  pains  to  show  that  he  esteems  lightly  the  advan- 
tages of  form  and  fortune.  First  of  all,  in  meetings  and 
salutations,  men  do  not  accost  one  another  as  fair,  or  rich, 
or  strong,  but  use  such  expressions  of  esteem  as  'Heaven- 
sprung  son  of  Laertes,  Odysseus  of  many  devices  ;'^  'Hector 
son  of  Priam,  peer  of  Zeus  in  counsel;'®  'O  Achilles, 
Peleus'   son,   mightest   of  Achaians    far;^    'Noble   son   of 

^  Nauck  294  ;  Eurip.  Aeolus.  Frag.  20.  ^  Nauck  695. 

3//.  iii.  39  :  this  rendering  and  the  following  are  not  taken  from  L., 
L.,  and  M.  ^11.  xvii.  142. 

5//.  ii.  173.  ^11.  vii.  47.  '//.  xix.  216. 


91 


How  to  Study  Poetry 

Menoitios,  dear  to  my  heart.'^  And  when  men  censure  one 
another,  they  do  not  call  attention  to  physical  defects,  but 
direct  their  reproaches  at  errors,  as.  Thou  heavy  with 
wine,  thou  with  face  of  dog  and  heart  of  deer;'^  'Ajax, 
master  of  railing,  ill-counseled;^  'Idomeneus,  why  art  thou 
a  braggart  of  old?  ...  It  beseemeth  thee  not  to  be  a 
braggart;'*  'Ajax,  thou  blundering  boaster;'^  and,  lastly, 
Thersites  is  not  reviled  by  Odysseus  for  his  lameness,  nor 
baldness,  nor  hunched  back,  but  for  his  reckless  babble, 
while  the  indulgent  mother  of  Hephaestus  accosts  her  son 
by  referring  to  his  lameness,  'Rise,  lame  god,  O  my  son.'^ 
Thus  Homer  ridicules  those  who  are  ashamed  of  being 
lame  or  blind,  maintaining  that  nothing  is  an  object  of 
reproach  which  is  not  in  itself  disgraceful,  and  that  nothing 
is  disgraceful  which  is  not  our  own  doing,  but  the  gift  of 
fortune.  Hence  two  great  benefits  accrue  to  the  careful 
student  of  poetry:  the  one,  equanimity,  that  is,  the  power 
to  keep  from  unreasonably  and  viciously  casting  a  man's 
misfortunes  in  his  teeth;  the  other,  magnanimity,  that  is, 
the  power  to  resist  being  cast  down  or  disquieted  when 
fortune  deals  harshly  with  us,  but  rather  with  meekness  to 
endure  suffering,  reproach,  and  ridicule.  This  last  it  is  very 
easy  to  do  if  one  has  in  mind  the  saying  of  Philemon,'^ 
There  is  no  surer  proof  of  a  gentle  and  harmonious  spirit 
than  the  power  to  endure  a  railer.'^  But  if  one  appear  to 
deserve  rebuke,  let  him  be  attacked  for  his  own  errors  and 
passions,  as  Adrastus,  the  tragic  character,  who,  when 
accosted  by  Alcmaeon  with,  Thy  sister  killed  her  husband,' 
replied,  'Yes,  and  thou  with  thine  own  hand  slew  the 
mother  who  bore  thee.'^  For  just  as  those  who  lash  a 
man's  garments  do  not  touch  his  body,  so  those  who  abuse 
a  man  for  his  ill  fortune  or  low  birth,  vainly  and  foolishly 

1//.  xi.  608.  2//  i    225.  3//.  xxiii.  483. 

*//.  xxiii.  474-479.  5//.  xiii.  824.  ^//.  xxi.  331. 

''Comic  poet,  born  about  361  B.C.     Philemon  was  a  successful  rival 
of  Menander,  and  exerted  much  influence  upon  Latin  comedy. 
^  Meineke  iv.  g.  ^  Nauck  695. 


92 


How  to  Study  Poetry 

work  themselves  up  over  mere  externalities,  without  touch- 
ing the  soul  or  those  things  which  really  need  a  sarcastic 
reproof. 

XIV 

Moreover,  just  as  it  is  explained  above  that  we  should 
thwart  and  check  confidence  in  coarse  and  hurtful  poems  by 
contrasting  with  them  the  maxims  and  sayings  of  men  of 
esteem  and  of  public  service,  so  all  refined  and  helpful  sen- 
timents we  should  nurture  and  strengthen  by  examples  and 
testimony  from  philosophy,  giving  to  it  the  credit  of  their 
origination.^  This  is  right  and  profitable,  for  one's  confi- 
dence in  the  poems  and  regard  for  them  is  strengthened 
when  he  discovers  that  the  doctrines  of  Pythagoras  and  of 
Plato  agree  with  the  words  spoken  on  the  stage,  or  sung 
to  the  harp,  or  studied  in  school,  and  that  the  precepts  of 
Chilo^  and  Bias^  accord  with  the  books  which  children  read. 

Wherefore  it  is  of  prime  importance  to  teach  young  men 
that  such  thoughts  as  these,  which  are  met  with  in  the 
poets,  'Not  unto  thee,  my  child,  are  given  the  works  of 
war,  but  follow  thou  after  the  loving  tasks  of  wedlock;'* 
and.  Tor  Zeus  would  have  been  wroth  with  him,  if  he 
fought  with  a  better  man  than  himself;'^  differ  not  from 
the  precept,  'Know  thyself,'^  but  express  the  same  thought. 
And  these  again,  'Witless  ones,  not  knowing  how  much  the 
half  is  greater  than  the  whole  ;'^  and,  'Bad  counsel  is  worst 
of  all  for  him  who  gives  it  ;'^  accord  with  the  maxims  which 
Plato  expresses  in  the  Gorgias  and  the  Republic,  namely^ 

'  See  Introd.  p.  30,  on  this  section. 

2  A  Spartan  enumerated  among  the  Seven  Wise  Men  of  Greece.  He 
became  one  of  the  ephori  of  Sparta  in  556  B.C.  Among  the  maxims 
ascribed  to  him  is,   '  Know  thyself.' 

3  Another  of  the  Seven  Wise  Men,  living  about  560  B.C.  He  was  dis- 
tinguished for  eloquence  as  well  as  wisdom.  One  of  his  witty  sayings 
was,   '  I  carry  all  my  goods  (or  riches)  with  me.' 

*//.  V.  428.  5//.  xi.  543,     The  same  comparisons  exist  in  the 

scholia  of  Codex  B  on  these  passages.  ®  See  note  2. 

'  W.  and  D.  40.     See  also  Rep,  v.  466  ;  Laws  3.  690.        ^  Ibid.  265. 

93 


How  to  Study  Poetry 

that,  To  be  unjust  is  worse  than  to  suffer  injustice;'^  and, 
*To  harm  is  more  harmful  than  to  be  harmed.'^  One 
must  admit  also  that  the  following  words  of  Aeschylus, 
'Be  of  good  cheer,  intense  pain  does  not  last,'^  express  but 
the  famous  and  oft-quoted  maxim  of  Epicurus,  Tain  if 
great  is  brief;  if  lasting,  slight;'  and  that  the  one  idea 
is  stated  explicitly  by  Aeschylus,  while  the  other  is  only 
its  corollary;  for  if  great  and  intense  pain  does  not  last, 
the  pain  which  does  last  is  not  great  nor  hard  to  bear. 
And  wherein  do  these  words  of  Thespis,*  'Thou  seest  that 
Zeus  is  supreme  among  the  gods,  because  no  falsehood, 
no  boastful  or  idle  jesting,  comes  from  his  lips,  and  he  alone 
knows  not  pleasure,'^  differ  from  the  saying  of  Plato,  'The 
divine  nature  is  seated  far  from  both  joy  and  grief.'^ 
Again,  this  saying  of  Bacchylides,'^  'Virtue  keeps  its  lustre 
untarnished,  but  wealth  associates  with  worthless  men;'^ 
and  this  of  Euripides  to  the  same  effect,  'I  deem  nothing 
superior  to  self-control,  since  its  abiding-place  is  ever  with 
good  men;'^  and  this,  'Should  you  strive  for  honor,  and 
seek  to  acquire  virtue  through  riches,  among  good  men 
you  would  be  rated  as  good  for  nothing  ;'^*^  do  they  not 
confirm  what  the  philosophers  say  of  wealth  and  external 
goods,  that,  unless  virtue  is  present,  they  are  useless  and 
unprofitable  ? 

For  thus  to  unite  and  wed  poetry  to  the  doctrines  of 
philosophy  relieves  it  of  its  fictitious  and  illusive  quality, 

^  Gorgias  473.     ^  See  Wyttenbach,  Lexicon  Plutarcheum.     ^  Nauck  83. 

"* '  Inventor  of  the  Greek  tragedy,  since  he  introduced  between  the 
dithyrambic  chorals  at  the  festival  of  Dionysus  an  interlocutor,  who 
now  in  monologues,  now  in  dialogues  with  the  leader  of  the  chorus, 
narrated,  or  gave  a  mimetic  representation  of,  the  incidents  to  which 
the  songs  referred.'  See  Horace,  Art  of  Poetry  276,  for  a  curious  pic- 
ture of  Thespis  strolling  from  place  to  place  and  giving  shows  from 
his  wagon. 

s  Nauck  647.  ^  Epist.  iii.  315. 

'  One  of  the  nine  canonical  Greek  lyric  poets,  about  470  B.C. 
Bacchylides  was  a  graceful  writer,  and  a  rival  of  Pindar. 

8  Bergk  3.  580.  *  Nauck  523.  ^'^  Ibid.  523- 


94 


How  to  Study  Poetry 

and  invests  with  seriousness  its  useful  passages.  More- 
over, it  prepares  and  predisposes  the  young  man's  mind  to 
the  teachings  of  philosophy,  so  that  he  comes  to  it  not 
utterly  without  taste  for  it  or  without  knowledge  of  its 
teachings,  not  full  of  the  confused  notions  which  he  has 
been  wont  to  receive  from  his  mother  and  his  nurse,  yea, 
and  likely  enough  from  his  father  and  his  tutor  as  well,^ 
esteeming  the  rich  happy  and  worshipful,  dreading  death 
and  suffering,  and  holding  virtue  without  riches  and  fame  to 
be  unenviable  and  a  mere  nothing.  For  when  young  men 
brought  up  in  this  way  hear  from  the  philosophers  senti- 
ments contradictory  to  these,  they  are  alarmed,  confused, 
and  bewildered,  and  they  do  not  accept  or  test  them,  unless, 
like  men  accustoming  themselves  to  see  the  sun  on  com- 
ing out  of  great  darkness,  they  become  accustomed,  in  an 
artificial  light  whose  rays  blend  truth  with  fiction,  to  see 
such  truths  without  dislike  or  repugnance.  For  having 
heard  or  read  such  things  as  this  in  poetry,  'Lament 
for  him  who  is  born  to  the  ills  of  life,  but  him  who 
has  died  and  ended  his  pain  count  happy,  sending  him 
hence  with  congratulations;'^  or  this,  'What  needs  have 
mortals  save  two  alone,  the  earth  for  grain,  the  spring 
for  water ?'^  or  this,  'O  tyranny,  dear  to  savage  men;'*  or 
this,  The  welfare  of  mortals  consists  in  having  the  fewest 
possible  causes  of  grief  ;'^  I  say,  if  such  thoughts  are  known 
to  them,  they  are  less  disturbed  and  annoyed  when  they 
hear  from  philosophers  that,  'Death  is  nothing  to  us ;'  that, 
'Nature's  wealth  is  limited ;'  and  that,  'Happiness  and  good 
fortune  do  not  consist  in  the  abundance  of  riches,  in  the 
pretentiousness  of  one's  employment,  in  sovereignty  and 
power,  but  in  freedom  from  grief,  in  equanimity,  and  in  a 
mind  disposed  to  conform  itself  to  nature.' 

Wherefore,  for  these  reasons,  as  well  as  for  the  others 
mentioned  above,  a  young  man  needs  to  be  carefully  guided 
in  his  reading,  in  order  that  he  may  not  beforehand  be 

1  See  Rep.  ii.  381.  ^  Nauck  395.  ^  Ibid.  507. 

4  Ibid.  696.  5  Ibid.  696. 

95 


How  to  Study  Poetry 

prejudiced  against  philosophy,  but  rather  somewhat  in- 
structed in  it,  and  so,  by  his  study  of  poetry,  may  be 
advanced  to  the  study  of  philosophy,  in  a  gracious,  friendly, 
and  congenial  spirit. 


96 


c 


ADDRESS  TO  YOUNG  MEN  ON  THE  RIGHT 
USE  OF  GREEK  LITERATURE 


OUTLINE 

I.  Introduction:  Out  of  the  abundance  of  his  experience 
the  author  will  advise  young  men  as  to  the  pagan  literature, 
showing  them  what  to  accept,  and  what  to  reject. 

II.  To  the  Christian  the  life  eternal  is  the  supreme  goal, 
and  the  guide  to  this  life  is  the  Holy  Scriptures ;  but  since 
young  men  cannot  appreciate  the  deep  thoughts  contained 
therein,  they  are  to  study  the  profane  writings,  in  which 
truth  appears  as  in  a  mirror. 

III.  Profane  learning  should  ornament  the  mind,  as 
foliage  graces  the  fruit-bearing  tree. 

IV.  In  studying  pagan  lore  one  must  discriminate 
between  the  helpful  and  the  injurious,  accepting  the  one, 
but  closing  one's  ears  to  the  siren  song  of  the  other. 

V.  Since  the  life  to  come  is  to  be  attained  through 
virtue,  chief  attention  must  be  paid  to  those  passages  in 
which  virtue  is  praised;  such  may  be  found,  for  example, 
in  Hesiod,  Homer,  Solon,  Theognis,  and  Prodicus. 

VI.  Indeed,  almost  all  eminent  philosophers  have  ex- 
tolled virtue.  The  words  of  such  men  should  meet  with 
more  than  mere  theoretical  acceptance,  for  one  must  try  to 
realize  them  in  his  life,  remembering  that  to  seem  to  be 
good  when  one  is  not  so  is  the  height  of  injustice. 

VII.  But  in  the  pagan  literature  virtue  is  lauded  in  deeds 
as  well  as  in  words,  wherefore  one  should  study  those 
acts  of  noble  men  which  coincide  with  the  teachings  of  the 
Scriptures. 

VIII.  To  return  to  the  original  thought,  young  men 
must  distinguish  between  helpful  and  injurious  knowledge, 
keeping  clearly  in  mind  the  Christian's  purpose  in  life.  So, 
like  the  athlete  or  the  musician,  they  must  bend  every 
energy  to  one  task,  the  winning  of  the  heavenly  crown. 

IX.  This  end  is  to  be  compassed  by  holding  the  body 

99 


The  Right  Use  of  Greek  Literature 

under,  by  scorning  riches  and  fame,  and  by  subordinating 
all  else  to  virtue. 

X.  While  this  ideal  will  be  matured  later  by  the  study 
of  the  Scriptures,  it  is  at  present  to  be  fostered  by  the  study 
of  the  pagan  writers ;  from  them  should  be  stored  up  knowl- 
edge for  the  future. 

Conclusion:  The  above  are  some  of  the  more  important 
precepts;  others  the  writer  will  continue  to  explain  from 
time  to  time,  trusting  that  no  young  man  will  make  the 
fatal  error  of  disregarding  them. 


ADDRESS  TO  YOUNG   MEN  ON  THE  RIGHT  USE  OF 
GREEK   LITERATURE 


Many  considerations,  young  men,  prompt  me  to  recom- 
mend to  you  the  principles  which  I  deem  most  desirable, 
and  which  I  believe  will  be  of  use  to  you  if  you  will 
adopt  them.  For  my  time  of  life,  my  many-sided  train- 
ing", yea,  my  adequate  experience  in  those  vicissitudes 
of  life  which  teach  their  lessons  at  every  turn,^  have 
so  familiarized  me  with  human  affairs,  that  I  am  able  to 
map  out  the  safest  course  for  those  just  starting  upon  their 
careers.  By  nature's  common  bond  I  stand  in  the  same 
relationship  to  you  as  your  parents,  so  that  I  am  no  whit 
behind  them  in  my  concern  for  you.  Indeed,  if  I  do  not 
misinterpret  your  feelings,  you  no  longer  crave  your  parents 
when  you  come  to  me.  Now  if  you  should  receive  my 
words  with  gladness,  you  would  be  in  the  second  class  of 
those  who,  according  to  Hesiod,  merit  praise;  if  not,  I 
should  say  nothing  disparaging,  but  no  doubt  you  your- 
selves would  remember  the  passage  in  which  that  poet  says : 
'He  is  best  who,  of  himself,  recognizes  what  is  his  duty, 
and  he  also  is  good  who  follows  the  course  marked  out  by 
others,  but  he  who  does  neither  of  these  things  is  of  no  use 
under  the  sun.'^ 

Do  not  be  surprised  if  to  you,  who  go  to  school  every  day, 
and  who,  through  their  writings,  associate  with  the  learned 
men  of  old,^  I  say  that  out  of  my  own  experience  I  have 

^  See  Newman,  Historical  Sketches,  vol.  ii.  chaps,  i.  and  ii,  for  an 
account  of  the  trials  and  labors  of  St.  Basil.  Also  see  Fialon,  Bio- 
graphie  de  St.  Basile,  and  Wace  and  SchafF,  Select  Library  of  Nicene  and 
Post-Nicene  Fathers,  vol.  viii,  Prolegomena. 

»  W.  and  D.  285  flf. 

2  See  Introd.  p.  28,  on  the  education  of  Greek  youth. 

lOI 


The  Right  Use  of  Greek  Literature 

evolved  something  more  useful.  Now  this  is  my  counsel, 
that  you  should  not  unqualifiedly  give  over  your  minds 
to  these  men,  as  a  ship  is  surrendered  to  the  rudder,  to 
follow  whither  they  list,  but  that,  while  receiving  whatever 
of  value  they  have  to  offer,  you  yet  recognize  what  it  is 
wise  to  ignore.  Accordingly,  from  this  point  on  I  shall 
take  up  and  discuss  the  pagan  writings,  and  how  we  are 
to  discriminate  among  them. 


II 

We  Christians,  young  men,  hold  that  this  human  life  is 
not  a  supremely  precious  thing,  nor  do  we  recognize  any- 
thing as  unconditionally  a  blessing  which  benefits  us  in 
this  life  only.^  Neither  pride  of  ancestry,  nor  bodily 
strength,  nor  beauty,  nor  greatness,  nor  the  esteem  of  all 
men,  nor  kingly  authority,  nor,  indeed,  whatever  of  human 
affairs  may  be  called  great,  do  we  consider  worthy  of 
desire,  or  the  possessors  of  them  as  objects  of  envy;  but 
we  place  our  hopes  upon  the  things  which  are  beyond,  and 
in  preparation  for  the  life  eternal  do  all  things  that  we  do. 
Accordingly,  whatever  helps  us  towards  this  we  say  that 
we  must  love  and  follow  after  with  all  our  might,  but  those 
things  which  have  no  bearing  upon  it  should  be  held  as 
naught.  But  to  explain  what  this  life  is,  and  in  what  way 
and  manner  we  shall  live  it,  requires  more  time  than  is  at 
our  command,  and  more  mature  hearers  than  you. 

And  yet,  in  saying  thus  much,  perhaps  I  have  made  it  suf- 
ficiently clear  to  you  that  if  one  should  estimate  and  gather 
together  all  earthly  weal  from  the  creation  of  the  world, 
he  would  not  find  it  comparable  to  the  smallest  part  of  the 
possessions  of  heaven;  rather,  that  all  the  precious  things 
in  this  life  fall  further  short  of  the  least  good  in  the  other 
than  the  shadow  or  the  dream  fails  of  the  reality.  Or 
rather,  to  avail  myself  of  a  still  more  natural  comparison,  by 

^  See  Col.  iii.  2  :  '  Set  your  affections  on  things  above,  not  on  things 
on  the  earth.' 

102 


The  Right  Use  of  Greek  Literature 

as  much  as  the  soul  is  superior  to  the  body  in  all  things, 
by  so  much  is  one  of  these  lives  superior  to  the  other.^ 

Into  the  life  eternal  the  Holy  Scriptures  lead  us,  which 
teach  us  through  divine  words.  But  so  long  as  our 
immaturity  forbids  our  understanding  their  deep  thought, 
we  exercise  our  spiritual  perceptions  upon  profane  writ- 
ings, which  are  not  altogether  different,  and  in  which 
we  perceive  the  truth  as  it  were  in  shadows  and  in  mir- 
rors. Thus  we  imitate  those  who  perform  the  exercises 
of  military  practice,  for  they  acquire  skill  in  gymnastics  and 
in  dancing,  and  then  in  battle  reap  the  reward  of  their 
training.  We  must  needs  believe  that  the  greatest  of  all 
battles  lies  before  us,  in  preparation  for  which  we  must  do 
and  suffer  all  things  to  gain  power.  Consequently  we  must 
be  conversant  with  poets,  with  historians,  with  orators, 
indeed  with  all  men  who  may  further  our  soul's  salvation. 
Just  as  dyers  prepare  the  cloth  before  they  apply  the  dye, 
be  it  purple  or  any  other  color,  so  indeed  must  we  also,  if 
we  would  preserve  indelible  the  idea  of  the  true  virtue, 
become  first  initiated  in  the  pagan  lore,  then  at  length 
give  special  heed  to  the  sacred  and  divine  teachings,  even 
as  we  first  accustom  ourselves  to  the  sun's  reflection  in 
the  water,  and  then  become  able  to  turn  our  eyes  upon  the 
very  sun  itself.^ 

Ill 

If,  then,  there  is  any  affinity  between  the  two  literatures, 
a  knowledge  of  them  should  be  useful  to  us  in  our  search 
for  truth;  if  not,  the  comparison,  by  emphasizing  the  con- 
trast, will  be  of  no  small  service  in  strengthening  our  regard 
for  the  better  one.  With  what  now  may  we  compare  these 
two  kinds  of  education  to  obtain  a  simile?  Just  as  it  is 
the  chief  mission  of  the  tree  to  bear  its  fruit  in  its  season, 

^  See  Rep.  x.  614 :  '  And  yet,  I  said,  all  these  things  are  as  nothing, 
either  in  number  or  greatness,  in  comparison  with  those  other  recom- 
penses which  await  both  just  and  unjust  after  death,  which  are  more 

and  greater  far.'  ^See  p.  95. 

• 

103 


The  Right  Use  of  Greek  Literature 

though  at  the  same  time  it  puts  forth  for  ornament  the 
leaves  which  quiver  on  its  boughs,  even  so  the  real  fruit 
of  the  soul  is  truth,  yet  it  is  not  without  advantage  for  it 
to  embrace  the  pagan  wisdom,  as  also  leaves  offer  shelter 
to  the  fruit,  and  an  appearance  not  untimely.  That  Moses, 
whose  name  is  a  synonym  for  wisdom,  severely  trained 
his  mind  in  the  learning  of  the  Egyptians,^  and  thus 
became  able  to  appreciate  their  deity.^  Similarly,  in  later 
days,  the  wise  Daniel  is  said  to  have  studied  the  lore  of  the 
Chaldaeans  while  in  Babylon,"^  and  after  that  to  have  taken 
up  the  sacred  teachings. 

IV 

Perhaps  it  is  sufficiently  demonstrated  that  such  heathen 
learning  is  not  unprofitable  for  the  soul;  I  shall  then  dis- 
cuss next  the  extent  to  which  one  may  pursue  it.  To  begin 
with  the  poets,  since  their  writings  are  of  all  degrees  of 
excellence,  you  should  not  study  all  of  their  poems  without 
omitting  a  single  word.  When  they  recount  the  words 
and  deeds  of  good  men,  you  should  both  love  and  imitate 
them,  earnestly  emulating  such  conduct.  But  when  they 
portray  base  conduct,  you  must  flee  from  them  and  stop  up 
your  ears,  as  Odysseus  is  said  to  have  fled  past  the  song  of 
the  sirens,*  for  familiarity  with  evil  writings  paves  the 
way  for  evil  deeds.  Therefore  the  soul  must  be  guarded 
with  great  care,  lest  through  our  love  for  letters  it  receive 
some  contamination  unawares,  as  men  drink  in  poison  with 
honey.  We  shall  not  praise  the  poets  when  they  scoff  and 
rail,  when  they  represent  fornicators  and  winebibbers,  when 
they  define  blissfulness  by  groaning  tables  and  wanton 
songs.  Least  of  all  shall  we  listen  to  them  when  they 
tell  us  of  their  gods,  and  especially  when  they  represent 
them  as  being  many,  and  not  at  one  among  themselves.^ 
For,  among  these  gods,  at  one  time  brother  is  at  variance 
with  brother,  or  the  father  with  his  children;   at  another, 

^Actsvii.22.  '  ovTO)  irpoaeWeiv  ry  Seuplgi,  rov'Ovrog. 

^Daniel  i.  3  fF.      ^See  p.  51;  Ba^l,  £j>isf.  i.      ^  See  p.  64,  and  notes. 

104 


The  Right  Use  of  Greek  Literature 

the  children  engage  in  truceless  war  against  their  parents. 
The  adulteries  of  the  gods  and  their  amours,  and  especially 
those  of  the  one  whom  they  call  Zeus,  chief  of  all  and  most 
high,  things  of  which  one  cannot  speak,  even  in  connection 
with  brutes,  without  blushing,  we  shall  leave  to  the  stage. 
I  have  the  same  words  for  the  historians,  and  especially 
when  they  make  up  stories  for  the  amusement  of  their 
hearers.  And  certainly  we  shall  not  follow  the  example 
of  the  rhetoricians  in  the  art  of  lying.  For  neither  in  the 
courts  of  justice  nor  in  other  business  affairs  will  falsehood 
be  of  any  help  to  us  Christians,  who,  having  chosen  the 
straight  and  true  path  of  life,  are  forbidden  by  the  gospel 
to  go  to  law.  But  on  the  other  hand  we  shall  receive  gladly 
those  passages  in  which  they  praise  virtue  or  condemn  vice. 
For  just  as  bees  know  how  to  extract  honey  from  flowers, 
which  to  men  are  agreeable  only  for  their  fragrance  and 
color,  even  so  here  also  those  who  look  for  something 
more  than  pleasure  and  enjoyment  in  such  writers  may 
derive  profit  for  their  souls.  Now,  then,  altogether  after 
the  manner  of  bees  must  we  use  these  writings,  for  the  bees 
do  not  visit  all  the  flowers  without  discrimination,  nor 
indeed  do  they  seek  to  carry  away  entire  those  upon 
which  they  light,  but  rather,  having  taken  so  much  as  is 
adapted  to  their  needs,  they  let  the  rest  go.  So  we, 
if  wise,  shall  take  from  heathen  books  whatever  befits  us 
and  is  allied  to  the  truth,  and  shall  pass  over  the  rest.  And 
just  as  in  culling  roses  we  avoid  the  thorns,  from  such 
writings  as  these  we  will  gather  everything  useful,  and  guard 
against  the  noxious.^  So,  from  the  very  beginning,  we 
must  examine  each  of  their  teachings,  to  harmonize  it  with 
our  ultimate  purpose,  according  to  the  Doric  proverb,  'test- 
ing each  stone  by  the  measuring-line.'^ 

'  The  general  attitude  taken  here  toward  selectiveness  in  reading  is 
Platonic  ;  see,  for  instance,  frequent  passages  in  the  Laws  ii,  iii,  and 
vii,  and  the  Republic  iii. 

^  rhv  XlOov  Trbrl  rav  OTrdprov  ayovrag.  Maloney  notes  that  St.  Gregory 
Nazianzen  cites  this  proverb  in  Letter  xxxviii,  and  St.  John  Chrysostom 
in  Homily  xxv. 

I05 


The  Right  Use  of  Greek  Literature 

V 

Since  we  must  needs  attain  to  the  life  to  come  through 
virtue,  our  attention  is  to  be  chiefly  fastened  upon  those 
many  passages  from  the  poets,  from  the  historians,  and 
especially  from  the  philosophers,  in  which  virtue  itself  is 
praised.  For  it  is  of  no  small  advantage  that  virtue  become 
a  habit  with  a  youth,^  for  the  lessons  of  youth  make  a 
deep  impression,  because  the  soul  is  then  plastic,  and  there- 
fore they  are  likely  to  be  indelible.  If  not  to  incite  youth  to 
virtue,  pray  what  meaning  may  we  suppose  that  Hesiod 
had  in  those  universally  admired  lines,^  of  which  the  senti- 
ment is  as  follows:  'Rough  is  the  start  and  hard,  and  the 
way  steep,  and  full  of  labor  and  pain,  that  leads  toward 
virtue.  Wherefore,  on  account  of  the  steepness,  it  is  not 
granted  to  every  man  to  set  out,  nor,  to  the  one  having  set 
out,  easily  to  reach  the  summit.  But  when  he  has  reached 
the  top,  he  sees  that  the  way  is  smooth  and  fair,  easy  and 
light  to  the  foot,  and  more  pleasing  than  the  other,  which 
leads  to  wickedness,' — of  which  the  same  poet  said  that 
one  may  find  it  all  around  him  in  great  abundance.^  Now 
it  seems  to  me  that  he  had  no  other  purpose  in  saying 
these  things  than  so  to  exhort  us  to  virtue,  and  so  to  incite 
us  to  bravery,  that  we  may  not  weaken  our  efforts  before 
we  reach  the  goal.  And  certainly  if  any  other  man  praises 
virtue  in  a  like  strain,  we  will  receive  his  words  with  pleas- 
ure, since  our  aim  is  a  common  one. 

Now  as  I  have  heard  from  one  skilful  in  interpreting  the 
mind  of  a  poet,*  all  the  poetry  of  Homer  is  a  praise  of 

^  Plato  frequently  touches  upon  the  value  of  habit  in  the  Laws  vii,  and 
the  Republic  ii, 

'  W.  and  D.  285  ff.  Plato  refers  to  this  same  passage  in  the  Repub- 
lic ii.  364.  ^  Ibid.  287. 

^Libanius,  b.  at  Antioch  in  314  ;  studied  at  Athens,  but  acquired  his 

education  principally  by  private  study  of  the  old  Greek  writers,  whom 

he  often  imitated  with  success,  and  for  whom  he  always  showed  great 

enthusiasm.     During  the  first  part  of  his  career  as  a  teacher  at  Constan- 

>i  tinople,  he  was  very  popular,  and  St.  Basil  was  then  among  his  stu- 

106 


The  Right  Use  of  Greek  Literature 

virtue,  and  with  him  all  that  is  not  merely  accessory  tends 
to  this  end.  There  is  a  notable  instance  of  this  where 
Homer  first  made  the  princess  reverence  the  leader  of  the 
Cephallenians,  though  he  appeared  naked,  shipwrecked,  and 
alone,  and. then  made  Odysseus  as  completely  lack  embarrass- 
ment, though  seen  naked  and  alone,  since  virtue  served  him 
as  a  garment.  And  next  he  made  Odysseus  so  much 
esteemed  by  the  other  Phaeacians  that,  abandoning  the 
luxury  in  which  they  lived,  all  admired  and  emulated  him, 
and  there  was  not  one  of  them  who  longed  for  anything  else 
except  to  be  Odysseus,  even  to  the  enduring  of  shipwreck.^ 
The  interpreter  of  the  poetic  mind  argued  that,  in  this 
episode,  Homer  very  plainly  says :  'Be  virtue  your  con- 
cern, O  men,  which  both  swims  to  shore  with  the  ship- 
wrecked man,  and  makes  him,  when  he  comes  naked  to 
the  strand,  more  honored  than  the  prosperous  Phaeacians.' 
And,  indeed,  this  is  the  truth,  for  other  possessions  belong 
to  the  owner  no  more  than  to  another,  and,  as  when  men 
are  dicing,  fall  now  to  this  one,  now  to  that.  But  virtue  is 
the  only  possession  that  is  sure,  and  that  remains  with  us 
whether  living  or  dead.  Wherefore  it  seems  to  me  that 
Solon-  had  the  rich  in  mind  when  he  said:  'We  will  not 
exchange  our  virtue  for  their  gold,  for  virtue  is  an  ever- 
lasting possession,  while  riches  are  ever  changing  owners.' 
Similarly  Theognis^  said  that  the  god,  whatever  he  might 

dents.  '  His  idol  was  Greek  style,  and  for  his  time  he  had  rare  success 
in  mastering  the  secrets  of  Greek  expression.  A  pagan  born  and  bred, 
he  was  an  ardent  admirer  of  the  Emperor  Julian,  but  his  devotion  to  the 
Apostate  did  not  prevent  him  from  associating  on  terms  of  affectionate 
intimacy  with  St.  Chrysostom  and  St.  Basil  ;  for  he  was  above  all  a 
rhetorician,  and  his  tolerant  attitude  toward  Christianity,  so  far  as  it  did 
not  interfere  with  the  study  of  the  Greek  classics  and  the  attainment  of 
excellence  in  Greek  composition,  may  be  explained  by  his  shallow 
cleverness  as  well  as  b}'^  his  easy  temper.'     See  p.  34. 

^  See  Odys.  vi.  and  vii.,  and  also  p.  76,  for  Plutarch's  comment  on  this 
episode. 

^  The  great  Athenian  law-giver.  In  the  tract.  How  One  may  Profit  by 
Ones  Enemies,  Plutarch  attributes  these  lines  to  Solon,  but  they  occur 
among  the  Gnomes  of  Theognis,  316-318.  See  also  Plutarch,  Life  of 
Solon.  2  See  p.  54. 

107 


The  Right  Use  of  Greek  Literature 

mean  by  the  god,  inclines  the  balances  for  men,  now  this 
way,  now  that,  giving  to  some  riches,  and  to  others  poverty.^ 
Also  Prodicus,  the  sophist  of  Ceos,^  whose  opinion  we  must 
respect,  for  he  is  a  man  not  to  be  slighted,  somewhere  in 
his  writings  expressed  similar  ideas  about  virtue  and  vice. 
I  do  not  remember  the  exact  words,  but  as  far  as  I  recollect 
the  sentiment,  in  plain  prose  it  ran  somewhat  as  follows: 
While  Hercules  was  yet  a  youth,  being  about  your  age,  as  he 
was  debating  which  path  he  should  choose,  the  one  lead- 
ing through  toil  to  virtue,  or  its  easier  alternate,  two 
women  appeared  before  him,  who  proved  to  be  Virtue 
and  Vice.  Though  they  said  not  a  word,  the  difference 
between  them  was  at  once  apparent  from  their  mien.  The 
one  had  arranged  herself  to  please  the  eye,  while  she 
exhaled  charms,  and  a  multitude  of  delights  swarmed  in 
her  train.  With  such  a  display,  and  promising  still  more, 
she  sought  to  allure  Hercules  to  her  side.  The  other, 
wasted  and  squalid,  looked  fixedly  at  him,  and  bespoke 
quite  another  thing.  For  she  promised  nothing  easy  or 
engaging,  but  rather  infinite  toils  and  hardships,  and  perils 
in  every  land  and  on  every  sea.  As  a  reward  for  these 
trials,  he  was  to  become  a  god,  so  our  author  has  it.  The 
latter,  Hercules  at  length  followed.^ 

VI 

Almost  all  who  have  written  upon  the  subject  of  wisdom 
have  more  or  less,  in  proportion  to  their  several  abilities, 
extolled  virtue  in  their  writings.  Such  men  must  one  obey, 
and  must  try  to  realize  their  words  in  his  life.  For  he,  who 
by  his  works  exemplifies  the  wisdom  which  with  others  is 

^  Gnomes  157-158. 

'  'A  celebrated  sophist  of  the  fifth  century,  B.C.  He  was  accustomed 
to  travel  through  Greece,  delivering  lectures  for  money.  He  paid 
special  attention  to  the  correct  use  of  words.  Although  severely  criti- 
cised by  the  other  sophists,  he  is  mentioned  with  respect  by  Xenophon 
and  Plato,  the  former  of  whom  has  preserved,  in  The  Choice  of  Her- 
cules, the  story  here  used  by  St.  Basil.'  ^  See  Xenophon,  Memorab. 
ii.  I.  22  ;  Cicero,  De  Off.  i.  32  ;  Chrysostom,  Regnum  ;  Lucian,  Somnium. 

108 


The  Right  Use  of  Greek  Literature 

a  matter  of  theory  alone,  'breathes ;  all  others  flutter  about 
like  shadows.'^  I  think  it  is  as  if  a  painter  should  represent 
some  marvel  of  manly  beauty,  and  the  subject  should 
actually  be  such  a  man  as  the  artist  pictures  on  the  canvas. 
To  praise  virtue  in  public  with  brilliant  words  and  with 
long  drawn  out  speeches,  while  in  private  preferring  pleas- 
ures to  temperance,  and  self-interest  to  justice,  finds  an 
analogy  on  the  stage,  for  the  players  frequently  appear  as 
kings  and  rulers,  though  they  are  neither,  nor  perhaps  even 
genuinely  free  men.  A  musician  would  hardly  put  up  with 
a  lyre  which  was  out  of  tune,  nor  a  choregus  with  a  chorus 
not  singing  in  perfect  harmony.  But  every  man  is  divided 
against  himself  who  does  not  make  his  life  conform  to  his 
words,  but  who  says  with  Euripides,  The  mouth  indeed 
hath  sworn,  but  the  heart  knows  no  oath.'^  Such  a  man 
will  seek  the  appearance  of  virtue  rather  than  the  reality.  ^i'/\ 
But  to  seem  to  be  good  when  one  is  not  so,  is,  if  we  are 
to  respect  the  opinion  of  Plato^  at  all,  the  very  height  of 
injustice. 

VII 

After  this  wise,  then,  are  we  to  receive  those  words  from 
the  pagan  authors  which  contain  suggestions  of  the  virtues. 
But  since  also  the  renowned  deeds  of  the  men  of  old  either 
are  preserved  for  us  by  tradition,  or  are  cherished  in  the 
pages  of  poet  or  historian,  we  must  not  fail  to  profit  by 
them.  A  fellow  of  the  street  rabble  once  kept  taunting 
Pericles,  but  he,  meanwhile,  gave  no  heed;  and  they  held 
out  all  day,  the  fellow  deluging  him  with  reproaches,  but 
he,  for  his  part,  not  caring.  Then  when  it  was  evening 
and  dusk,  and  the  fellow  still  clung  to  him,  Pericles  escorted 
him  with  a  light,  in  order  that  he  might  not  fail  in  the 

1  Odys.  X.  495. 

^  Hippo lytus  612;  see  Cicero,  De  Off.  3.  29.  108:  'Juravi  lingua, 
mentem  injuratam  gero.' 

^  Rep.  ii,  361  ;  see  Cicero,  De  Off.  1.  13.  41  :  'Totius  autem  injustitiae 
nulla  capitalior  est  quam  eorum  qui  quum  maxime  fallunt,  id  agunt,  ut 
viri  boni  esse  videantur;'  Plutarch,  Flatterer  and  Friend  ^. 

109 


\ 


The  Right  Use  of  Greek  Literature 

practice  of  philosophy.^  Again,  a  man  in  a  passion  threat- 
ened and  vowed  death  to  Euclid  of  Megara,^  but  he  in  turn 
vowed  that  the  man  should  surely  be  appeased,  and  cease 
from  his  hostility  to  him. 

How  invaluable  it  is  to  have  such  examples  in  mind 
when  a  man  is  seized  with  anger !  On  the  other  hand,  one 
must  altogether  ignore  the  tragedy  which  says  in  so  many 
words :  'Anger  arms  the  hand  against  the  enemy  ;'^  for  it  is 
much  better  not  to  give  way  to  anger  at  all.  But  if  such 
restraint  is  not  easy,  we  shall  at  least  curb  our  anger  by 
reflection,  so  as  not  to  give  it  too  much  rein. 

But  let  us  bring  our  discussion  back  again  to  the  exam- 
ples of  noble  deeds.  A  certain  man  once  kept  striking 
Socrates,  the  son  of  Sophroniscus,  in  the  face,  yet  he  did 
not  resent  it,  but  allowed  full  play  to  the  ruffian's  anger, 
so  that  his  face  was  swollen  and  bruised  from  the  blows. 
Then  when  he  stopped  striking  him,  Socrates  did  nothing 
more  than  write  on  his  forehead,  as  an  artisan  on  a  statue, 
who  did  it,  and  thus  took  out  his  revenge.  Since  these 
examples  almost  coincide  with  our  teachings,  I  hold  that 
such  men  are  worthy  of  emulation.  For  this  conduct  of 
Socrates  is  akin  to  the  precept  that  to  him  who  smites  you 
upon  the  one  cheek,  you  shall  turn  the  other  also* — thus 
much  may  you  be  avenged;  the  conduct  of  Pericles  and  of 
Euclid  also  conforms  to  the  precept:  'Submit  to  those  who 
persecute  you,  and  endure  their  wrath  with  meekness  ;'^  and 
to  the  other :  'Pray  for  your  enemies  and  curse  them  not.'^ 
One  who  has  been  instructed  in  the  pagan  examples  will  no 
longer  hold  the  Christian  precepts  impracticable.  But  I 
will  not  overlook  the  conduct  of  Alexander,  who,  on  taking 
captive  the  daughters  of  Darius,  who  were  reputed  to  be 
of  surpassing  beauty,  would  not  even  look  at  them,  for  he 
deemed  it  unworthy  of  one  who  was  a  conqueror  of  men 

'  See  Plutarch,  Li/e  of  Pericles  v,  from  which  the  story  is  taken. 

'See  Plutarch,  Concerning  the  Cure  of  Anger  14. 

'  Sommer  notes  that  St.  Basil  has  not  quoted  Euripides  correctly  ;  St. 
Basil  reads  :  ''ElTf  ex^povg  Ov/xbg  bnlil^EL  x^po^',  but  Euripides:  'AnTiOvg  ett 
ixOpolg  onXiCeiv  x^pa-  ^Matt.  v,  39.  ^  Ibid.  v.  44.  ^Ibid. 


The  Right  Use  of  Greek  Literature 

to  be  a  slave  to  women.^  This  is  of  a  piece  with  the  state- 
ment that  he  who  looks  upon  a  woman  to  lust  after  her, 
even  though  he  does  not  commit  the  act  of  adultery,  is  not 
free  from  its  guilt,  since  he  has  entertained  impure  thoughts.^ 
It  is  hard  to  believe  that  the  action  of  Cleinias,^  one  of  the 
disciples  of  Pythagoras,  was  in  accidental  conformity  to  our 
teachings,  and  not  designed  imitation  of  them.  What,  then, 
was  this  act  of  his?  By  taking  an  oath  he  could  have 
avoided  a  fine  of  three  talents,  yet  rather  than  do  so  he  paid 
the  fine,  though  he  could  have  sworn  truthfully.  I  am  in- 
clined to  think  that  he  had  heard  of  the  precept  which  for- 
bids us  to  swear.* 

VIII 

But  let  us  return  to  the  same  thought  with  which  we 
started,  namely,  that  we  should  not  accept  everything  with- 
out discrimination,  but  only  what  is  useful.  For  it  would 
be  shameful  should  we  reject  injurious  foods,  yet  should 
take  no  thought  about  the  studies  which  nourish  our  souls, 
but  as  a  torrent  should  sweep  along  all  that  came  near 
our  path  and  appropriate  it.  If  the  helmsman  does  not 
blindly  abandon  his  ship  to  the  winds,  but  guides  it  toward 
the  anchorage ;  if  the  archer  shoots  at  his  mark ;  if  also  the 
metal-worker  or  the  carpenter  seeks  to  produce  the  objects 
for  which  his  craft  exists,  would  there  be  rime  or  reason 
in  our  being  outclassed  by  these  men,  mere  artisans  as  they 
are,  in  quick  appreciation  of  our  interests?  For  is  there  not 
some  end  in  the  artisan's  work,  is  there  not  a  goal  in  human 
life,  which  the  one  who  would  not  wholly  resemble  unrea- 
soning animals  must  keep  before  him  in  all  his  words  and 
deeds?  If  there  were  no  intelligence  sitting  at  the  tiller  of 
our  souls,  like  boats  without  ballast  we  should  be  borne 
hither  and  thither  through  life,  without  plan  or  purpose. 

An  analogy  may  be  found  in  the  athletic  contests,  or,  if 

^  See  Plutarch,  Of  the  Fortune  or  Virtue  of  Alexander  the  Great  ii. 
6  and  12  ;  Life  of  Alexander  ;  Arrian,  Exped,  of  Alex.  ii.  12.  The  same 
story  is  told  of  Cyrus  in  the  Cyropaedia.     See  p.  84. 

'  Matt.  V.  28.  3  A  contemporary  and  friend  of  Plato. 

"♦Lev.  xix.  12,  or  Deut.  v.  11. 


The  Right  Use  of  Greek  Literature 

you  will,  in  the  musical  contests;  for  the  contestants  pre- 
pare themselves  by  a  preliminary  training  for  those  events  in 
which  wreaths  of  victory  are  offered,  and  no  one  by  training 
for  wrestling  or  for  the  pancratium  would  get  ready  to  play 
the  lyre  or  the  flute.  At  least  Polydamas^  would  not,  for 
before  the  Olympic  games  he  was  wont  to  bring  the  rushing 
chariot  to  a  halt,  and  thus  hardened  himself.  Then  Milo^ 
could  not  be  thrust  from  his  smeared  shield,  but,  shoved  as 
he  was,  clung  to  it  as  firmly  as  statues  soldered  by  lead.  In  a 
word,  by  their  training  they  prepared  themselves  for  the 
contests.  If  they  had  meddled  with  the  airs  of  Marsyas 
or  of  Olympus,  the  Phrygians,^  abandoning  dust  and  exer- 
cise, would  they  have  won  ready  laurels  or  crowns,  or 
would  they  have  escaped  being  laughed  at  for  their  bodily 
incaj>acity?  On  the  other  hand,  certainly  Timotheus  the 
musician*  did  not  spend  his  time  in  the  schools  for  wrest- 
ling, for  then  it  would  not  have  been  his  to  excel  all  in 
music,  he  who  was  so  skilled  in  his  art  that  at  his  pleasure 
he  could  arouse  the  passions  of  men  by  his  harsh  and 
vehement  strains,  and  then  by  gentle  ones,  quiet  and  soothe 
them.  By  this  art,  when  once  he  played  Phrygian  airs  on 
the  flute  to  Alexander,  he  is  said  to  have  incited  the  general 
to  arms  in  the  midst  of  feasting,  and  then,  by  milder 
music,  to  have  restored  him  to  his  carousing  friends.^  Such 
power  to  compass  one's  end,  either  in  music  or  in  athletic 
contests,  is  developed  by  practice. 

I  have  called  to  mind  the  wreaths  and  the  fighters.     These 

' '  Of  Scotussa,  conquered  in  the  Pancratium  at  the  Olympic  games  in 
01.  93,  B.C.  408.  His  size  was  immense,  and  the  most  marvelous  stories 
are  related  of  his  strength,  how  he  killed  without  arms  a  huge  and  fierce 
lion  on  Mount  Olympus,  etc'     See  Pausanias  vi.  5  ;  Persius  i.  4. 

*  Of  Crotona.  He  was  six  times  victor  in  wrestling  at  the  Olympic 
games,  and  as  often  at  the  Pythian.  He  is  said  to  have  carried  a  four- 
year-old  heifer  on  his  shoulders  through  the  stadium  at  Olympia,  and 
then  to  have  eaten  the  whole  of  it  in  a  single  day.     See  Pausanias  vi.  14. 

^  Olympus  was  the  pupil  of  Marsyas,  Schol.  in  Aristoph  Eq.  9  ;  see 
also  Plutarch,  Concerning  Music  11;  Arist.,  Pol.  viii.  5.  6. 

"*  A  celebrated  flute-player  of  Thebes. 

^  See  Plutarch,  Of  the  Fortune  or  Virtue  of  Alexander  the  Great  ii.  2; 
Cicero,  Legg.  2.  12;  Dryden,  Alexander's  Feast. 


The  Right  Use  of  Greek  Literature 

men  endure  hardships  beyond  number,  they  use  every 
means  to  increase  their  strength,  they  sweat  ceaselessly  at 
their  training,  they  accept  many  blows  from  the  master, 
they  adopt  the  mode  of  life  which  he  prescribes,  though  it 
is  most  unpleasant,  and,  in  a  word,  they  so  rule  all  their 
conduct  that  their  whole  life  before  the  contest  is  prepara- 
tory to  it.  Then  they  strip  themselves  for  the  arena,  and 
endure  all  and  risk  all,  to  receive  the  crown  of  olive,  or  of 
parsley,  or  some  other  branch,  and  to  be  announced  by  the 
herald  as  vict^.^ 

Will  it  then  be  possible  for  us,  to  whom  are  held  out 
rewards  so  wondrous  in  number  and  in  splendor  that  tongue 
can  not  recount  them,  while  we  are  fast  asleep  and  leading 
care-free  lives,  to  make  these  our  own  by  half-hearted  efforts  ? 
Surely,  were  an  idle  life  a  very  commendable  thing,  Sardana- 
palus^  would  take  the  first  prize,  or  Margites^  if  you  will, 
whom  Homer,  if  indeed  the  poem  is  by  Homer,  put  down  as 
neither  a  farmer,  nor  a  vine-dresser,  nor  anything  else  that 
is  useful.  Is  there  not  rather  truth  in  the  maxim  of  Pitta- 
cus*  which  says,  'It  is  hard  to  be  good  ?'^     For  after  we  have 

*  See  I  Cor.  ix.  24-27. 

^  'According  to  an  inaccurate  classical  tradition,  the  last  king  of  Assy- 
ria. He  was  noted  for  effeminacy  and  voluptuousness,  and  in  order  to 
escape  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  besiegers  of  Nineveh,  ended  his 
worthless  life  by  burning  himself  in  his  palace.  It  seems  certain  that 
the  original  of  Sardanapalus  is  Asshurbanipal,  King  of  Assyria,  668- 
626  B.C.' 

^  The  Margites,  a  poem  which  is  lost,  and  which  ridiculed  a  man  who 
was  said  to  know  many  things,  and  who  knew  all  badly,  was  frequently 
ascribed  by  the  ancients  to  Homer,  but  is  of  later  date.  According  to 
St.   Clement  of  Alexandria,   these  are  the  verses  of  which  St.    Basil 

speaks : 

Tov  S"  ovT  ap  GKanffipa  deol  deaav,  ovt'  dpoTTJpa. 
OvT  aX2.o)^  Tt  Go<p6v  •  iraGrig  &  rjfidprave  Texvrig. 
'  Whom  the  gods  made  neither  a  delver,  nor  a  ploughman, 
Nor  any  other  useful  thing,  but  deprived  of  every  craft.' 
^  One  of  the  Seven  Wise  Men  of  Greece  ;  b.   at  Mytilene  in  Lesbos, 
652    B.C.       In    589    P.    was    chosen   aesymnetes    (ruler   with    absolute 
power),  which  office  he  filled  for  ten  years.     Of  his  acts  as  a  ruler  noth- 
ing is  known  ;  of  his  elegiac  poems,  a  few  lines  are  preserved. 

°  This  maxim  is  preserved  in  the  title  of  an  ode  of  Simonides,  see 

"3 


The  Right  Use  of  Greek  Literature 

actually  endured  many  hardships,  we  shall  scarcely  gain 
those  blessings  to  which,  as  said  above,  nothing  in  human 
experience  is  comparable.  Therefore  we  must  not  be  light- 
minded,  nor  exchange  our  immortal  hopes  for  momentary 
idleness,  lest  reproaches  come  upon  us,  and  judgment  befall 
us,  not  forsooth  here  among  men,  although  judgment  here 
is  no  easy  thing  for  the  man  of  sense  to  bear,  but  at  the  bar 
of  justice,  be  that  under  the  earth,  or  wherever  else  it  may 
happen  to  be.  While  he  who  unintentionally  violates  his 
obligations  perchance  receives  some  pardon  from  God,  he 
who  designedly  chooses  a  life  of  wickedness  doubtless  has 
a  far  greater  punishment  to  endure. 


IX 

*What  then  are  we  to  do?'  perchance  some  one  may  ask. 
What  else  than  to  care  for  the  soul,  never  leaving  an  idle 
moment  for  other  things?  Accordingly,  we  ought  not  to 
serve  the  body  any  more  than  is  absolutely  necessary,  but 
we  ought  to  do  our  best  for  the  soul,  releasing  it  from 
the  bondage  of  fellowship  with  the  bodily  appetites;  at  the 
same  time  we  ought  to  make  the  body  superior  to  passion. 
We  must  provide  it  with  the  necessary  food,  to  be  sure,  but 
not  with  delicacies,  as  those  do  who  seek  everywhere  for 
waiters  and  cooks,  and  scour  both  earth  and  sea,  like  those 
bringing  tribute  to  some  stern  tyrant.  This  is  a  despicable 
business,  in  which  are  endured  things  as  unbearable  as  the 
torments  of  hell,  where  wool  is  combed  into  the  fire,  or 
water  is  drawn  in  a  sieve  and  poured  into  a  perforated  jar, 
and  where  work  is  never  done.^  Then  to  spend  more  time 
than  is  necessary  on  one's  hair  and  clothes  is,  in  the  words 
of  Diogenes,  the  part  of  the  unfortunate  or  of  the  sinful. 
For  what  difference  does  it  make  to  a  sensible  man  whether 
he  is  clad  in  a  robe  of  state  or  in  an  inexpensive  garment, 

Bergk  747,  and  Plato  indulges  in  a  sophistical  discussion  of  the  ode 
in  Protagoras  338.     See  also  Arist,  Pol.  iii.  14.  9  ;  Diog.  Laert  i.  4. 
»See  p.  55. 

114 


The  Right  Use  of  Greek  Literature 

so  long  as  he  is  protected  from  heat  and  cold?  Likewise 
in  other  matters  we  must  be  governed  by  necessity,  and 
only  give  so  much  care  to  the  body  as  is  beneficial  to  the 
soul.  For  to  one  who  is  really  a  man  it  is  no  less  a  dis- 
grace to  be  a  fop  or  a  pamperer  of  the  body  than  to  be  the 
victim  of  any  other  base  passion.  Indeed,  to  be  very  zeal- 
ous in  making  the  body  appear  very  beautiful  is  not  the 
mark  of  a  man  who  knows  himself,  or  who  feels  the  force  of 
the  wise  maxim :  'Not  that  which  is  seen  is  the  man,'^  for  it 
requires  a  higher  faculty  for  any  one  of  us,  whoever  he 
may  be,  to  know  himself.  Now  it  is  harder  for  the  man 
who  is  not  pure  in  heart  to  gain  this  knowledge  than  for  a 
blear-eyed  person  to  look  upon  the  sun. 

To  speak  generally  and  so  far  as  your  needs  demand, 
purity  of  soul  embraces  these  things:  to  scorn  sensual 
pleasures,  to  refuse  to  feast  the  eyes  on  the  senseless  antics 
of  buffoons,  or  on  bodies  which  goad  one  to  passion,  and 
to  close  one's  ears  to  songs  which  corrupt  the  mind.  For 
passions  which  are  the  offspring  of  servility  and  baseness 
are  produced  by  this  kind  of  music.^  On  the  other  hand, 
we  must  employ  that  class  of  music  which  is  better  in  itself 
and  which  leads  to  better  things,  which  David,  the  sacred 
psalmist,  is  said  to  have  used  to  assuage  the  madness  of 
the  king.^  Also  tradition  has  it  that  when  Pythagoras 
happened  upon  some  drunken  revelers,  he  commanded  the 
flute-player,  who  led  the  merry-making,  to  change  the  tune 
and  to  play  a  Doric  air,  and  that  the  chant  so  sobered 
them  that  they  threw  down  their  wreaths,  and  shamefacedly 
returned  home.*  Others  at  the  sound  of  the  flute^  rave 
like  Corybantes  and  Bacchantes.     Even  so  great  a  differ- 

*  Perhaps  Ps. -Plato,  AxtocAus  365  ;  cf.  the  Bohn  tr.  of  Plato  6.  43  ; 
Cicero,  Somn.  Scip.  8  ;  Lactantius,  Div.  Inst.  ii.  3.  8. 

2  See  Plato,  Rep.  iii,  398  ff.,  for  a  discussion  of  the  moral  effects  of 
the  different  modes. 

3  I  Sam.  xvi.  14-23. 

^  Among  the .  Pythagoreans  great  importance  was  attached  to  the 
influence  of  music  in  controlling  the  passions  ;  see  Porphyry,  Life 
of  Pythagoras  30. 

^  In  Rep.  iii.  399,  Plato  puts  flute-players  out  of  his  ideal  society. 

115 


The  Right  Use  of  Greek  Literature 

ence  does  it  make  whether  one  lends  his  ear  to  healthy 
or  to  vicious  music.  Therefore  you  ought  to  have  still 
less  to  do  with  the  music  of  such  influence  than  with  other 
infamous  things.  Then  I  am  ashamed  to  forbid  you  to 
load  the  air  with  all  kinds  of  sweet-smelling  perfumes,  or 
to  smear  yourselves  with  ointment.  Again,  what  further 
argument  is  needed  against  seeking  the  gratification  of  one's 
appetite  than  that  it  compels  those  who  pursue  it,  like 
animals,  to  make  of  their  bellies  a  god?^ 

In  a  word,  he  who  would  not  bury  himself  in  the  mire 
of  sensuality  must  deem  the  whole  body  of  little  worth,  or 
must,  as  Plato  puts  it,  pay  only  so  much  heed  to  the  body 
as  is  an  aid  to  wisdom,^  or  as  Paul  admonishes  somewhere 
in  a  similar  passage:  *Let  no  one  make  provision  for  the 
flesh,  to  fulfill  the  lusts  thereof.'^  Wherein  is  there  any 
difference  between  those  who  take  pains  that  the  body  shall 
be  perfect,  but  ignore  the  soul,  for  the  use  of  which  it  is 
designed,  and  those  who  are  scrupulous  about  their  tools, 
but  neglectful  of  their  trade?  On  the  contrary,  one  ought 
to  discipline  the  flesh  and  hold  it  under,  as  a  fierce  animal 
is  controlled,  and  to  quiet,  by  the  lash  of  reason,  the  unrest 
which  it  engenders  in  the  soul,  and  not,  by  giving  full 
rein  to  pleasure,  to  disregard  the  mind,  as  a  charioteer  is 
run  away  with  by  unmanageable  and  frenzied  horses.  So 
let  us  bear  in  mind  the  remark  of  Pythagoras,  who,  upon 
learning  that  one  of  his  followers  was  growing  very  fleshy 
from  gymnastics  and  hearty  eating,  said  to  him,  'Will  you 
not  stop  making  your  imprisonment  harder  for  yourself?'* 
Then  it  is  said  that  since  Plato  foresaw  the  dangerous 
influence  of  the  body,  he  chose  an  unhealthy  part  of  Athens 
for  his  Academy,  in  order  to  remove  excessive  bodily  com- 
fort, as  one  prunes  the  rank  shoots  of  the  vines.  Indeed  I 
have   even   heard   physicians    say   that   over-healthiness   is 

^  See  Phil.  iii.  19.  ^  See  Rep.  iii.  403-412.  ^Rom.  xiii.  14.  . 

*  The  plain  living  of  the  Pythagoreans  is  discussed  and  illustrated  in 
Porphyry,  Life  of  Pythagoras  32,  34,  and  lamblichus,  Life  of  Pytha- 
goras 96,  98. 

116 


The  Right  Use  of  Greek  Literature 

dangerous.  Since,  then,  this  exaggerated  care  of  the  body- 
is  harmful  to  the  body  itself,  and  a  hindrance  to  the  soul, 
it  is  sheer  madness  to  be  a  slave  to  the  body,  and  serve  it. 

If  we  were  minded  to  disregard  attention  to  the  body,  we 
should  be  in  little  danger  of  prizing  anything  else  unduly. 
For  of  what  use,  now,  are  riches,  if  one  scorns  the  pleasures 
of  the  flesh?  I  certainly  see  none,  unless,  as  in  the  case 
of  the  mythological  dragons,  there  is  some  satisfaction  in 
guarding  hidden  treasure.  Of  a  truth,  one  who  had 
learned  to  be  independent  of  this  sort  of  thing  would  be 
loath  to  attempt  anything  mean  or  low,  either  in  word  or 
deed.  For  superfluity,  be  it  Lydian  gold-dust,^  or  the 
work  of  the  gold-gathering  ants,^  he  would  disdain  in  pro- 
portion to  its  needlessness,  and  of  course  he  would  make 
the  necessities  of  life,  not  its  pleasures,  the  measure  of 
need.  Forsooth,  those  who  exceed  the  bounds  of  neces- 
sity, like  men  who  are  sliding  down  an  inclined  plane,  can 
nowhere  gain  a  footing  to  check  their  precipitous  flight,  for 
the  more  they  can  scrape  together,  so  much  or  even  more 
do  they  need  for  the  gratification  of  their  desires.  As 
Solon,^  the  son  of  Execestides,  puts  it,  'No  definite  limit  is 
set  to  a  man's  wealth.'*  Also,  one  should  hear  Theognis,^ 
the  teacher,  on  this  point:  'I  do  not  long  to  be  rich,  nor  do 
I  pray  for  riches,  but  let  it  be  given  me  to  live  with  a  little, 
suffering  no  ill.'^ 

I  also  admire  the  wholesale  contempt  of  all  human  posses- 
sions which  Diogenes  expressed,  who  showed  himself  richer 
than  the  great  Persian  king,  since  he  needed  less  for  living. 
But  we  are  wont  to  be  satisfied  with  nothing  save  with  the 

'  The  golden  sands  of  the  Pactolus,  a  small  river  in  Lydia,  were  pro- 
verbial, for  this  river  was  one  of  the  sources  of  Lydia's  wealth. 
2  Cf.  Herod,  iii.  102  ;  Jacobs  on  Aelian,  Nat.  Animal,  iv.  27. 
^  See  p.  107. 

*  Bergk  327.  ^  See  p.  54. 

•  Bergk  ii.  218;  compare  Proverbs  xxx.  8  :  'Give  me  neither  poverty 
nor  riches  ;  feed  me  with  food  convenient  for  me.' 


H7 


The  Right  Use  of  Greek  Literature 

talents  of  the  Mysian  Pythius/  with  limitless  acres  of  land, 
and  more  herds  of  cattle  than  may  be  counted.  Yet  I  believe 
that  if  riches  fail  us  we  should  not  mourn  for  them,  and  if  we 
have  them,  we  should  not  think  more  of  possessing  them 
than  of  using  them  rightly.  For  Socrates  expressed  an 
admirable  thought  when  he  said  that  a  rich,  purse-proud 
man  was  never  an  object  of  admiration  with  him  until  he 
learned  that  the  man  knew  how  to  use  his  wealth.  If 
Phidias  and  Polycletus^  had  been  very  proud  of  the  gold 
and  ivory  with  which  the  one  constructed  the  statue  of  the 
Jupiter  of  Elis,  the  other  the  Jimo  of  Argos,  they  would 
have  been  laughed  at,  because  priding  themselves  in  treas- 
ure produced  by  no  merit  of  theirs,  and  overlooking  their 
art,  from  which  the  gold  gained  greater  beauty  and  worth. 
Then  shall  we  think  that  we  are  open  to  less  reproach  if  we 
hold  that  virtue  is  not,  in  and  of  itself,  a  sufficient  ornament? 
Again,  shall  we,  while  manifestly  ignoring  riches  and 
scorning  sensual  pleasures,  court  adulation  and  fulsome 
praise,  vying  with  the  fox  of  Archilochus^  in  cunning  and 
craft?  Of  a  truth  there  is  nothing  which  the  wise  man  must 
more  guard  against  than  the  temptation  to  live  for  praise,  and 
to  study  what  pleases  the  crowd.  Rather  truth  should  be 
made  the  guide  of  one's  life,  so  that  if  one  must  needs  speak 
against  all  men,  and  be  in  ill-favor  and  in  danger  for  virtue's 
sake,  he  shall  not  swerve  at  all  from  that  which  he  con- 
siders right;  else  how  shall  we  say  that  he  differs  from  the 
Egyptian  sophist,  who  at  pleasure  turned  himself  into  a  tree, 

^  A  Lydian  of  great  wealth,  which  he  derived  from  his  gold  mines  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Celaenae,  in  Phrygia.  When  Xerxes  arrived  at 
Celaenae,  Pythius  banqueted  him  and  his  whole  army  (Herod,  vii. 
27-29). 

'^  A  statuary  of  the  fifth  century,  and  a  pupil  of  Phidias.  His  statue 
of  the  Spear-bearer  was  studied  by  other  artists  as  containing  the  cafton 
with  respect  to  the  proportions  of  the  human  body. 

2  Poet,  ranked  by  ancients  as  second  only  to  Homer,  flourished  650 
B.C.  He  was  a  master  in  odes,  in  elegies,  and  in  fables,  but  his  great 
and  formidable  gift  lay  in  satire.  See  Rep.  ii.  365  :  '  Around  and  about 
me  I  will  draw  the  simple  garb  of  virtue,  but  behind  I  will  trail  the 
subtle  and  crafty  fox,  as  Archilochus,  first  of  sages,  counsels.' 

118 


The  Right  Use  of  Greek  Literature 

an  animal,  fire,  water,  or  anything  else?^  Such  a  man  now 
praises  justice  to  those  who  esteem  it,  and  now  expresses 
opposite  sentiments  when  he  sees  that  wrong  is  in  good 
repute;  this  is  the  fawner's  trick.  Just  as  the  polypus  is 
said  to  take  the  color  of  the  ground  upon  which  it  lies,  so 
he  conforms  his  opinions  to  those  of  his  associates. 


X 

To  be  sure,  we  shall  become  more  intimately  acquainted 
with  these  precepts  in  the  sacred  writings,  but  it  is  incum- 
bent upon  us,  for  the  present,  to  trace,  as  it  were,  the  sil- 
houette of  virtue  in  the  pagan  authors.  For  those  who 
carefully  gather  the  useful  from  each  book  are  wont,  like 
mighty  rivers,  to  gain  accessions  on  every  hand.  For  the 
precept  of  the  poet  which  bids  us  add  little  to  little^  must 
be  taken  as  applying  not  so  much  to  the  accumulation  of 
riches,  as  of  the  various  branches  of  learning.  In  line  with 
this  Bias^  said  to  his  son,  who,  as  he  was  about  to  set  out  for 
Egypt,  was  inquiring  what  course  he  could  pursue  to  give 
his  father  the  greatest  satisfaction :  'Store  up  means  for  the 
journey  of  old  age.'*  By  means  he  meant  virtue,  but  he 
placed  too  great  restrictions  upon  it,  since  he  limited  its 
usefulness  to  the  earthly  life.  For  if  any  one  mentions  the 
old  age  of  Tithonus,^  or  of  Arganthonius,^  or  of  that 
Methuselah^  who  is  said  to  have  lacked  but  thirty  years  of 
being  a  millenarian,  or  even  if  he  reckons  the  entire  period 
since  the  creation,  I  will  laugh  as  at  the  fancies  of  a  child, 

^  Proteus;  see  Odys.  iv.  455,  and  Vergil,  Georg.  iv.  386. 

'  Hesiod,  W.  and  D.  359  :  *  If  you  are  ever  adding  little  to  little,  soon 
your  store  will  be  great.'  ^  See  p.  93. 

^  See  Diogenes  Laertius  i.  82-88,  for  this  and  other  of  the  sayings 
and  doings  of  Bias. 

*  Tithonus  obtained  immortality  from  the  gods,  but  not  eternal 
youth,  and  so  became  a  shrunken  old  man. 

®  King  of  Tartessus  in  Spain.  According  to  Herodotus  (vii.  21)  he 
ascended  the  throne  at  the  age  of  forty,  and  reigned  eighty  years. 

'Gen.  V.  27. 


119 


The  Right  Use  of  Greek  Literature 

since  I  look  forward  to  that  long,  undying  age,  of  the  extent 
of  which  there  is  no  limit  for  the  mind  of  man  to  grasp,  any 
more  than  there  is  of  the  life  immortal.  For  the  journey  of 
this  life  eternal  I  would  advise  you  to  husband  resources, 
leaving  no  stone  unturned,^  as  the  proverb  has  it,  whence 
you  might  derive  any  aid.  From  this  task  we  shall  not 
shrink  because  it  is  hard  and  laborious,  but,  remembering  the 
precept  that  every  man  ought  to  choose  the  better  life,  and 
expecting  that  association  will  render  it  pleasant,  we  shall 
busy  ourselves  with  those  things  that  are  best.  For  it  is 
shameful  to  squander  the  present,  and  later  to  call  back  the 
past  in  anguish,  when  no  more  time  is  given. 

In  the  above  treatise  I  have  explained  to  you  some  of  the 
things  which  I  deem  the  most  to  be  desired ;  of  others  I  shall 
continue  to  counsel  you  so  long  as  life  is  allowed  me.  Now 
as  the  sick  are  of  three  classes,  according  to  the  degrees 
of  their  sickness,  may  you  not  seem  to  belong  to  the  third, 
or  incurable,  class,  nor  show  a  spiritual  malady  like  that  of 
their  bodies!  For  those  who  are  slightly  indisposed  visit 
physicians  in  person,  and  those  who  are  seized  by  violent 
sickness  call  physicians,  but  those  who  are  suffering  from 
a  hopelessly  incurable  melancholy  do  not  even  admit  the 
physicians  if  they  come.  May  this  now  not  be  your  plight, 
as  would  seem  to  be  the  case  were  you  to  shun  these  right 
counsels ! 
*  Cf.  Eur.  HeracL  1002,  and  Bartlett,  Fam.  Quot.  (9th  ed.),  p.  809. 


0  V 


APPENDIX 


For  those  readers  who  care  to  know  the  immediate  antecedents  of  Plutarch's  essay, 
the  following  pages  offer  a  translation  of  the  concluding  paragraphs  of  Schlemm's 
dissertation  De  Fontibus  Plutarchi  Commentationutn  de  Audiendis  Poetis.  Inci- 
dentally, the  writer  would  say  that  he  is  of  the  opinion  that  Herr  Schlemm  has  made 
too  little  allowance  for  the  direct  influence  of  Aristotle  and  Plato  upon  Plutarch.  The 
numerals  indicate  the  pages  and  lines  of  my  translation. 

Now  that  we  have  treated  the  chapters  of  this  essay  in  detail,  let  us 
briefly  survey  it  as  a  whole,  in  order  that  we  may  see  what  plan  Plutarch 
followed  in  its  composition.  It  is  very  evident  that,  although  he  fre- 
quently interpolated  extraneous  matter,  he  started  out  with  a  certain 
definite  plan  of  treatment  in  mind. 

The  entire  matter  falls  into  two  parts.  The  former  explains  what 
restrictions  must  be  placed  upon  the  student  of  the  poets,  lest  his 
morals  or  his  views  on  fundamentally  important  questions  be  corrupted, 
and  extends  to  the  end  of  chapter  IX.  The  latter  embraces  the  remain- 
ing chapters,  and  considers  those  methods  which  the  reader  should 
employ  to  turn  the  study  of  the  poets  to  the  greatest  possible  account. 

In  the  former  part  of  the  treatise  first  place  is  given  to  those  maxims 
which  may  be  deduced  from  the  nature  of  the  art  of  poetry  (chapters 
II-III).  Chapter  II  is  concerned  with  certain  Peripatetic  principles, 
and,  as  shown  above,  Plutarch  had  taken  these  from  the  writings  of 
some  Peripatetic,  who,  to  counteract  the  influence  of  Plato's  uncer- 
tainty on  that  point,  maintained  that  the  fictitious  is  a  legitimate  element 
in  poetry.  The  illustrations  show  that  he  must  have  had  the  book  be- 
fore his  eyes  as  he  wrote,  and  his  plan  seems  to  have  been  to  incorpo- 
rate here  and  there  in  his  text  those  things  which  he  read  in  this  book. 

Similarly,  in  the  first  part  of  chapter  III  Plutarch  used  the  book  of 
another  Peripatetic,  who  likewise  had  written  on  the  nature  of  the 
arts,  and  Plutarch  either  had  made  excerpts  from  this  book,  or  actually 
had  it  at  hand  at  the  time  of  writing.  The  latter  part  of  this  chapter  is 
concerned  with  those  false  sentiments  from  the  poets  which  may  be 
corrected  by  mere  observation.  These  passages  fall  into  two  classes: 
one  embraces  those  verses  in  which  the  poets  themselves  offer  the 
means  for  correcting  unfortunately  expressed  sentiments ;  the  other, 
those  verses  which,  though  no  escape  therefrom  is  offered  by  the  author, 
may  yet  be  amended  by  the  sayings  of  other  illustrious  men. 

In  the  first  part  of  chapter  IV,  in  addition  to  his  own  illustrations  (for 
example,  the  one  taken  from  Menander),  he  employed  some  commen- 
tary on  Homer,  and  even  went  so  far  as  to  accept  illustrations  which 

121 


Appendix 

were  foreign  to  his  subject.  The  examples  in  the  last  part  of  the  chap- 
ter he  himself  brought  together.  In  the  first  part,  he  presented  the  dis- 
cussion on  hints  (ificpaaig)  in  Homer,  in  which  he  quoted  Antisthenes' 
two  interpretations  of  the  fables  of  the  gods  in  Homer,  which  were 
doubtless  known  to  Plutarch  through  Homeric  studies.  In  that  which 
followed,  on  the  contradictions  in  the  poets,  he  seemed  to  pursue  the 
plan  of  dividing  into  two  groups  those  passages  from  the  comic  and 
tragic  poets  which  he  had  borrowed  from  the  writings  of  the  Stoics — 
chiefly  indeed  from  Chrysippus— and  of  adding  independently  several 
illustrations  taken  from  Homer  (64.  13-21). 

The  third  method  which  Plutarch  proposed  for  removing  the  stum- 
bling-blocks in  the  poets  is  to  be  sure  of  the  correct  interpretation  of 
every  word.  Of  this  he  gave  most  numerous  and  diverse  examples, 
some  of  which  he  collected  himself  (68.  3fF. ;  69.  15-28;  71.  16  fF.;  72. 
25,  where,  perhaps  from  memory,  he  interwove  Stoic  fragments  with 
his  own),  and  some  of  which,  drawn  from  the  writings  of  others,  of  the 
Grammarians  (68.  20-69.  8),  of  Zeno  and  Chrysippus,  the  Stoics  (67.  i- 
15;  69.  29-71.  15),  he  explained  and  elaborated. 

After  he  had  explained  and  fully  illustrated  how  one  may  be  on  his 
guard  lest  his  morals  be  corrupted  by  reading  poetry,  suddenly  he 
again  began  to  analyze  the  nature  of  the  art  of  poetry,  and  to  consider 
what  must  be  looked  for  in  poetic  undertakings,  and  as  above,  with 
here  and  there  something  of  his  own  (74.  10-19;  75*  2-14),  he  cited  and 
explained  those  ideas  which,  with  ample  illustrations  (75.  14  ff.),  he 
found  in  the  book  of  some  Peripatetic.  To  these  he  added  other  ex- 
amples, in  part  taken  from  the  Homeric  studies  of  the  Grammarians 
(76.  3-20),  and  in  part  from  those  of  the  Peripatetics  (76.  23-78.  4),  and 
also  an  original  precept  concerning  the  reading  of  tragedies  (78.  8  fF.). 
In  like  manner  he  turned  Bion's  theory  of  the  treatment  of  poets  to  his 
own  use,  by  saying  that  the  reason  for  every  utterance  of  a  poet  should 
be  ascertained. 

In  the  latter  half  of  the  treatise,  of  all  the  theories  which  he  advanced 
by  which  the  reader  may  get  the  greatest  good  from  the  truthful  utter- 
ances of  the  poets,  the  best  are  those  drawn  from  the  writings  of  the 
Stoics.  From  them  he  took  the  matter  included  between  84.  14  and 
85.  12,  with  the  exception  of  a  very  few  lines  from  84.  22-85.  i.  All  of 
this,  and  notably  the  illustrations — the  application  of  which  has  been 
shown  to  agree  with  the  teachings  of  the  Stoics — undoubtedly  is  to  be 
traced  to  the  similar  works  of  Zeno  {Trepl  TcoLTjTLKfJQ  aKpodaeug — Concerning 
the  Study  of  Poetry),  of  Cleanthes  i^tpi  rov  itoLTjrov — Concerning  the  Poet), 
and  of  Chrysippus  {Trepl  rov  vrwf  del  rwv  TroiTjfidruv  &Kovetv — How  One 
Should  Study  Poetry). 

The  latter  part  of  chapter  XI  (85.  24-87.  17)  is  based  on  Zeno's  dis- 
cussion of  the  relative  place  of  wisdom  {(ppdvTjaLg)  among  the  virtues  in 


122 


Appendix 

the  Homeric  writings.  Plutarch  was  here  either  drawing  upon  Zeno's 
essay  Concerning  the  Study  of  Poetry,  or  upon  some  other  of  his  writ- 
ings, and  with  the  original  he  mingled  certain  ideas  of  his  own  (86.  14- 
23),  and  others  drawn  from  still  another  source  (87.  6-14). 

In  composing  the  first  part  of  chapter  XIII,  Plutarch  unquestionably 
had  at  hand  the  book  of  Chrysippus  on  How  One  Should  Study  Poetry, 
the  title  of  which,  we  have  good  reason  to  believe,  Plutarch  imitated. 

He  quotes  other  passages  which  are  not  so  arranged  as  to  be  able  to 
be  traced  to  such  and  such  a  work  of  such  a  Stoic,  but  must  have  been 
taken  from  his  note-books  compiled  while  reading  the  Stoics.  Among 
these  are  those  corrections  of  passages  on  page  88  (19-31),  which  he 
followed  up  with  some  similar  suggestions  of  his  own  (88  entire),  and 
also  the  instances  of  censure  and  praise  in  Homer  (91.  25-92.  22),  to 
which  he  likewise  made  not  a  few  additions  (92.  22-93.  3). 

Besides  these  ideas  borrowed  from  others,  he  also  advanced  certain 
of  his  own,  and  illustrated  them  by  examples  drawn  in  part  from  most 
diverse  sources,  and  in  part  original  with  himself.  To  this  division 
must  be  assigned,  first  of  all,  those  reflections  on  the  diversity  of  mor- 
als and  habits  among  the  different  heroes  and  peoples  in  Homer,  from 
which,  as  Plutarch  thinks,  may  be  determined  what  should  be  avoided 
and  what  emulated.  One  illustration  only  in  this  chapter  is  not 
Homeric  (82.  6-13),  and  that  is  taken  from  the  select  works  of  the 
Alexandrian  grammarians.  Here  also  are  to  be  assigned  the  two  illus- 
trations at  the  beginning  of  chapter  XII,  obtained  from  other  sources 
(II.  xxiii.  297  from  the  Peripatetics),  the  illustration  taken  from 
Archilochus,  and  lastly  the  theory  of  the  mission  of  poetry  (ea  poeta- 
rum  pertractandorum  ratio),  for  which  he  found  some  of  his  illustra- 
trations  elsewhere  (93.  18-22),  and  invented  some  himself. 


123 


INDEX 

[c  is  the  abbreviation  for  cited,  q  for  quoted.] 

Academy,  88,  ii6. 

Achilles,  23,  54,  61,  75,  76,  79,  80,  82,  83,  84,  88,  90. 

Action,  relative  importance  of,  in  tragedy,  52. 

Actuality,  its  relation  to  truth,  25-26. 

Address   to    Young  Men,   epitomized,   39;    closely   follows   Justin, 

Athenagoras,  Clement,  and  Origen,  43. 
Adrastus,  83,  92. 

Adulation,  not  to  be  cultivated,  118. 
Aeschylus,  c.  or  q.,  55,  87,  94. 
Aesop,  49;    Socrates  employed  fables  of,  53. 
Aethe,  87. 

Agamemnon,  54,  61,  75,  76,  79,  87,  89. 
Agesilaus,  anecdote  of,  84;   biographical  notice  of,  84. 
Alveip,  peculiar  use  of,  68. 
A  J  ax,  71,  82,  92. 
Alcmaeon,  92. 

Alexander,  anecdotes  of,  27,  112. 
Alexis,  q.,  65;    biographical  notice  of,  65. 
Allegories,  defined,  62. 

'AXiJetj',  various  meanings  of,  considered,  6&. 
Amethyst,  a  charm  against  drunkenness,  50. 
Amphiaraus,  87. 

Angelo,  Michel,  no  judge  of  his  own  work,  13. 
Anteia,  86. 

Anti-Gnosticism,  see  Gnosticism. 
Antilochus,  86. 
Antimachus,  83. 

Antisthenes,  q.,  88;    biographical  notice  of,  88. 
Ants,  habits  of  gold-gathering,  117. 
Aphrodite,  62. 
Apollo,  54,  55,  74. 
Appetites,  to  be  controlled,  114. 
Archer,  simile  of,  iii. 

Archilochus,  q.,  69,  88;   fox  of,  118,  123;  biographical  notice  of,  118. 
Ares,  62,  69. 

''kper-fi,  metaphorical  uses  of,  71. 

Arganthonius,  old  age  of,  119;    biographical  notice  of,  119. 
Arianism,  championed  by  Eunomius,  36;    opposed  by  Basil,  36-38; 

fostered  by  Valens,  37. 

125 


Index 

Arianism,  Semi-,  a  warring  faction  in  the  church,  37. 

Aristarchus,  c,  76,  82;    biographical  notice  of,  76. 

Ariston,  c,  49;   biographical  notice  of,  49. 

Aristophanes,  c,  63,  83. 

Aristophon,  c,  22,  59. 

Aristotle,  c.  or  q.,  14,  18,  19,  20,  21,  23,  24,  25,  26,  27,  28,  52,  53,  60, 
67*  72,  73j  7Sj  87,  112,  114;  his  indifference  to  metre,  14;  his 
theory  of  imitation,  19-21 ;  his  theory  of  the  mission  of  poetry, 
30. 

Aristoxenus,  c,  74. 

Art,  useful  and  imitative,  compared,  18;  imitative  and  sincere  com- 
pared, 19. 

Artist,  Plato's  conception  of,  18;    simile  of,  109. 

Asshurbanipal,  113. 

Athenagoras,  attitude  toward  Greek  philosophy,  41;    c,  43. 

Athene,  62,  74,  75,  83. 

Athens,  35,  63. 

Athletics,  analogies  drawn  from,  iii,  112- 113. 

Atreus,  89. 

Bacchantes,  why  they  use  rhythm,  15;   ravings  of,  115. 

Bacchylides,  q.,  94;   biographical  notice  of,  94. 

Basil,  St.,  date  and  place  of  birth,  33;  his  parentage  and  relatives, 
33-34;  his  home  life,  33;  studied  under  Libanius  in  Byzantium, 
34,  107;  studied  at  Athens,  35;  formed  friendships  with 
Gregory  Nazianzen  and  Julian,  34;  returned  from  Athens  to 
Caesarea,  35 ;  practiced  law  at  Caesarea,  35 ;  visited  hermits  in 
Egypt,  Syria,  and  Asia  Minor,  35 ;  erected  a  monastery  at 
Pontus,  35;  visited  by  Gregory,  35;  cared  for  famine-stricken 
people,  35;  opposed  Eunomius,  36;  estranged  from  Julian,  36; 
ordained  priest,  36;  raised  to  the  episcopate  of  Caesarea,  37; 
defied  Valens,  37;  opposed  by  warring  sects,  38;  his  noble 
struggle  for  the  faith,  38;  his  hold  upon  the  common  people, 
38;  his  eloquence,  38-39;  wherein  he  triumphed,  38;  his  death, 
39 ;  his  funeral,  39 ;  c,  77,  104. 

Batrachus,  23,  59. 

Battle,  the  Christian  life  a,  103. 

Bee,  similes  of,  83,  87,  105. 

Bellerophon,  86. 

Bias,  c.  or  q.,  93,  119;   biographical  notice  of,  93. 

Bion,  c,  79;    anecdote  of,  66;    biographical  notice  of,  66. 

Bforos,  various  meanings  of,  68. 

Body,  to  be  made  superior  to  appetites,  114-119;  care  for,  cause  of 
most  sins,  117. 

Boxer,  anecdote  of,  83. 

126 


Index 

Briseis,  76,  88. 

Buffoons,  antics  of,  to  be  ignored,  115. 

Butcher,  c.  or  q.,  21,  75. 

Byzantium,  34. 

Caesarea,  birthplane  of  Basil,  2>2>  J   Basil  practiced  law  in,  35. 

Calchas,  81. 

Calypso,  76. 

Cantharides,  cures  its  own  poison,  67. 

Carpenter,  simile  of,  11 1. 

Cassandra,  74. 

Cato,  c,  49,  81 ;   anecdote  of,  78. 

Chaerephanes,  subjects  painted  by,  22,  59;   biographical  notice  of,  59. 

Character,  relative  importance  of,  in  tragedy,  52 ;  one  of  the  six  parts 

of  tragedy,  53. 
Charioteer,  simile  of,  116. 
Chilo,  c,  93;    biographical  notice  of,  93. 
Chryseis,  76. 
Chrysippus,  fanciful  etymologies  of,  85 ;    biographical  notice  of,  85 ; 

c.  or  q.  (Gercke),  69,  71,  90,  91,  122,  123. 
Chrysostom,  c.  or  q.,  28,  105;    intimate  with  Libanius,  107. 
Church,  of  first  and  fourth  centuries  compared,  2>7- 
Cicero,  c.  and  q.,  60,  66,  71,  90,  108,  109,  112,  115. 
Cinesias,  q.,  66;   biographical  notice  of,  66. 
Classics,  studied  by  Basil  and  Gregory,  34;    esteemed  by  Christians, 

36;    Gregory's  tribute  to,  2)6  \    a  partial  expression  of  truth,  39; 

adapted  to  the  immature  student,  103 ;    fitting-school  for  study 

of  Scriptures,  103;    compared  with  Scriptures,  103-104;    praise 

virtue  by  noble  words,  106-109;    by  noble  deeds,   109-111;    see 

also  Philosophy. 
Cleanthes,  fanciful  etymologies  of,  85 ;    biographical  notice  of,  85 ; 

c.  or  q.,  71,  88,  122,  123. 
Cleinias,  anecdote  of,  11 1;    biographical  notice  of,  iii. 
Clement,  St.,  of  Alexandria,  Greek  philosophy  appreciated  by,  42; 

on  inspired  and  profane  writings,  42;    c,  43,  113. 
Clothes,  not  to  receive  undue  attention,  114. 
Clytemnestra,  74,  86. 
Color,  more  effective  than  line  in  painting,  52;    laid  on  confusedly, 

not  pleasing,  53;   simile  of,  103. 
Context,  important  in  interpretation,  67. 
Corybantes,  ravings  of,  115. 
Cyrus,  continence  of,  84. 

Daniel,  trained  in  Chaldean  lore,  104. 
David,  effect  of  his  music,  115. 

127 


Index 

Deception,  intentionally  employed  by  poets,  24-25;    unintentionally 

employed,  24-25. 
Demonides,  60. 
Diction,  richness  of,  desirable  in  poetry,  72;    often  conceals  useful 

suggestions,  80. 
Diogenes,  c.  or  q.,  66,  88,  114,  117. 
Diogenes  Laertius,  c,  71,  79,  114,  119, 
Diomedes,  80,  81,  82,  83. 
Dioscorides,  c,  67. 
Dolon,  82. 

Dorian  mode,  see  Mode. 
Dragon,  simile  of,  117. 
Driver,  simile  of,  89. 
Dry  as,  51. 
Dry  den,  c,  112. 
Dyer,  simile  of,  103. 

Eche polos,  87. 

Education,  of  Greek  youth,  28-29,  loi. 

Egypt,  yields  both  good  and  bad  herbs,  50. 

'EXafa,  metonymically  used,  71. 

Emendations,  to  be  made  in  bad  passages,  89;  character  of,  illus- 
trated, 89. 

Emmelia,  St.,  mother  of  Basil,  her  influence  upon  him,  33. 

Ewpedocles,  not  really  a  poet,  14,  53;  biographical  notice  of,  53; 
q.,  57. 

Enthusiasm,  explained,  16. 

Eos,  55. 

'ETraiyiJ,  meaning  of,  in  expression  iTraLvr]  Il€p(xe(f)6v€ia,  69. 

Epaminondas,  lauded  by  Diogenes,  66;  biographical  notice  of,  ^; 
fought  against  Agesilaus,  84. 

Epicurus,  q.,  94. 

Epimetheus,  70. 

Equanimity,  cultivated  by  study  of  poetry,  92;    defined,  92. 

Eteocles,  60. 

Etymology,  study  of,  important,  65. 

Euclid,  of  Megara,  anecdote  of,  no;    biographical  notice  of,  no. 

^vbaifijovia,  metonymically  used,  72. 

Eunomius,  his  zeal  for  Arianism,  36. 

Euripides,  c.  or  q.,  16,  56,  60,  64,  69,  73,  78,  79,  83,  88,  89,  90,  91, 
94,  109,  no. 

Eusebius,  bishop  of  Caesarea,  ordained  Basil,  36;  cooperated  with 
Basil  in  opposing  Arianism,  37;    c,  70. 

Eustathius,  c,  84. 


128 


Index 

Faith,  Basil's  loyalty  to  the  Catholic,  38;    criterion  of  true  science, 

harmony  with,  43. 
Fate,  ZeiJs  metonymically  used  for,  69-70. 
Fialon,  c,  loi. 
Fiction,  see  Plot. 

Flute,  induces  Bacchanalian  revelry,  115. 
Flute-players,  banished  from  Plato's  Republic,  115. 

Gellius,  c,  70. 

Generalization,  to  be  employed  in  studying  poetry,  90;  character 
of,  explained  and  illustrated,  90-93. 

Glaukos,  86. 

Gnosticism,  its  genesis,  40;  its  treatment  of  Greek  philosophy  and 
of  the  Scriptures,  40;  its  logical  results,  mythology,  mysticism, 
and  theosophy,  40;  partially  accepted  by  Clement  and  Origen, 
42. 

Gnosticism,  Anti-,  championed  by  TertuUian,  41. 

Goat,  simile  of,  83. 

Gods,  conflicting  sentiments  concerning,  64;  names  of,  used  to  de- 
note Fortune  and  Fate,  69,  71. 

Gold-dust,  tradition  of  Lydian,  explained,  117. 

Gorgias,  q.,  51 ;   biographical  notice  of,  51. 

Grammarians,  c,  122,  123. 

Greeks,  compared  with  Trojans,  80-83. 

Gregory  Naziansen,  St.,  friendship  of,  for  Basil,  34;  disposition  of, 
34;  scholarship  of,  34,  36;  reluctance  of,  to  leave  Athens,  35; 
visited  Basil  in  Pontus,  35 ;    quarrel  of,  with  Basil,  38 ;    c,  105. 

Gregory  Nyssen,  St.,  brother  of  Basil,  34. 

Grief,  a  cause  of  music,  15. 

Gymnastics,  simile  of,  103. 

Hades,  54,  55,  56,  66;   torments  of,  described,  114. 

Hair,  not  to  receive  undue  attention,  114. 

Harmony,  function  of,  in  true  art,  19. 

Hector,  23,  55,  62,  82,  83,  84,  91. 

Hecuba,  78. 

Helen,  60,  78. 

Helios,  62. 

Hephaestus,  69,  92. 

Hera,  62,  63. 

Heraclides,  c,  49;  biographical  notice  of,  49. 

Hercules',  episode  of,  108. 

Hermas,  attitude  of,  toward  philosophy,  41. 

Herodotus,  c,  117,  118,  119. 

Hesiod,  q.,  71,  72,  yg,  90,  93,  loi,  119;    wrote  to  incite  virtue,  106. 

129 


Index 

History,  inferior  to  poetry,  20;  distinguished  from  painting,  58; 
to  be  read  discriminatingly,  105 ;  contains  examples  of  virtuous 
deeds,  109. 

Hog,  imitated  by  Parmenio,  22,  59;    simile  of,  83. 

Homer,  c.  or  q.,  27,  41,  50,  51,  54,  55,  60,  61,  62,  63,  64,  67,  69,  70,  71, 
72,  7Z,  74,  7S,  7^,  77,  79,  80,  81,  82,  83,  84,  85,  86,  87,  91,  92,  93, 
106,  107,  109,  113,  119,  122,  123;  works  of,  infused  with  moral 
feeling,  27 ;  received  partial  revelation  of  the  Logos,  41 ;  weaves 
mixture  of  virtue  and  vice  in  characters,  72\  careful  to  com- 
mend, or  condemns  characters  and  actions,  61-63;  shows  slight 
regard  for  externalities,  91-92;  all  poetry  of,  a  praise  of  virtue, 
106. 

Horace,  c.  or  q.,  29,  94. 

Idomeneus,  92. 

Illusion,  place  of,  in  poetry,  24-25. 

Imitation,  meaning  of,  in  Greek  criticism,  18;  Plato's  interpretation 
of,  18-19 ;  Aristotle's  interpretation  of,  19-21 ;  Plutarch's  inter- 
pretation of,  21-26,  58-60;  an  imitation  of  an  imitation,  18;  the 
assumption  of  another's  character,  19;  an  inborn  instinct,  20; 
an  idealizing  of  life,  20;  objects  of,  21,  22,  23;  nature  of,  24; 
fundamental  in  poetry  and  painting,  21,  58,  72;  weaves  a  mix- 
ture of  virtue  and  vice,  73. 

Inspiration,  a  cause  of  music,  15. 

Ionian  mode,  see  Mode. 

Isocrates,  q.,  29. 

Ithacans,  51. 

Ixion,  60. 

lacohs,  c,  117. 

loy,  a  cause  of  music,  15. 

ludgment,  function  of,  in  music,  17;  function  of,  in  poetic  interpre- 
tation, 75. 

lulian.  Emperor,  friendship  of,  for  Basil  and  Gregory,  34;  invited 
Basil  to  Rome,  36;  replaced  the  images  of  the  gods  upon  the 
standards,  36;  denied  study  of  classics  to  Christians,  36)  ad- 
mired by  Libanius,  107. 

Juno,  of  Argos,  118. 

Jupiter,  of  Elis,  118. 

Justin  Martyr,  his  early  study  of  Greek  philosophy,  40;  his  accept- 
ance of  Christianity,  40;   his  synthetic  philosophy,  40;   c,  42,  43- 

Kafc6Ti7s,  metonymically  used,  72. 

KaXws  ix^Lv,  philologically  considered,  69. 

KafifxovLT],  philologically  considered,  67. 


130 


Index 

Lactantius,  c,  115. 

Libanius,  instructed  Basil,  34;    c,  106;    biographical  notice  of,  106. 

Life,  human,  not  supremely  precious,  102 ;  divine,  the  supreme  thing, 

102;    Scriptures  lead  to,   103;    should  conform  to  professions, 

109;    eternal,  the  great  journey,  120. 
Lives,  Plutarch's,  always  popular,  13. 
Logos,  the  basis  of  Justin's  philosophy,  40;    partially  revealed  to 

Greek  writers,  41,  42. 
Lucian,  c,  108. 
Lucretius,  q.,  29. 
Lycaon,  83. 

Lydian  mode,  see  Mode. 
Lykurgos,  folly  of,  in  destroying  vineyards,  51. 

Macrina,  grandmother  of  Basil,  taught  him  Scriptures,  ZS- 

Macrina,  St.,  sister  of  Basil,  34. 

Magnanimity,  cultivated  by  study  of  poetry,  92;    defined,  92. 

Mandrake,  imparts  influence  to  wine,  51. 

Manners,  good  and  bad  to  be  distinguished  in  poetry,  80-81. 

Margites,  113;   note  explaining  the,  113. 

Marsyas,  music  of,  112. 

Medea,  21,  58. 

Melanthius,  c,  63;    biographical  notice  of,  63. 

Meleager,  y6. 

Menander,  q.,  61,  65,  72,  90,  121. 

Metal-worker,  simile  of,  iii. 

Methuselah,  old  age  of,  119. 

Metre,  not  the  sole  requisite  of  poetry,  14. 

Milo,  anecdote  of,  112;    biographical  notice  of,  112. 

Milton,  no  judge  of  his  own  work,  13;    q.,  59. 

Modes,  enumeration  of,  17;  mixed  Lydian,  moves  affections,  74; 
mixed  Lydian,  defined,  74;  Dorian,  defined,  74;  Dorian,  joined 
with  mixed  Lydian,  by  tragedians,  74;  mixed  Lydian,  invented 
by  Sappho,  74;  air  in  Phrygian,  played  to  Alexander  by  Timo- 
theus,  112;  air  in  Dorian,  sobered  revellers,  115. 

Musical  contest,  analogy  drawn  from,  112. 

Musician,  simile  of,  109. 

Mysticism,  a  result  of  Gnosticism,  40. 

Mythology,  a  result  of  Gnosticism,  40. 

Names,  not  to  blind  one  to  character,  74. 

Nature,  relation  of  poetry  to,  18-28;    divine,  seated  far  from  joy  or 

grief,  94 ;   conformity  to,  secret  of  happiness,  95. 
Nausicaa,  y6. 
Nestor,  81. 

131 


Index 

Newman,  c,  loi. 

Nicander,  not  really  a  poet,  14,  53 ;   biographical  notice  of,  53. 

Nobility,  may  be  learned  from  poetry,  85-87. 

Odysseus,  63,  76,  77,  84,  85,  90,  91,  92,  107 ;    Parrhasius's  picture  of, 

22,  59. 
OTkos,  various  meanings  of,  considered,  68. 
Ointments,  not  to  be  used,  116. 

Olympus,  the  Phrygian,  music  of,  112;    biographical  notice  of,  112. 
Orestes,  Theon's  picture  of,  21,  58. 
Origen,  his  adherence  to  views  of  Clement,  42-43. 

Painting,  silent  poetry,  21,  58;   distinguished  from  history,  58. 

Pandarus,  62,  86. 

Panthea,  84. 

Paris,  licentiousness  of,  60,  91. 

Parmenides,  not  really  a  poet,  14,  53;    biographical  notice  of,  53. 

Parmenio,  hog  imitated  by,  22,  59. 

Parrhasius,  his  picture  of  Odysseus,  22,  59;  biographical  notice  of, 
59. 

Pataecion,  &^. 

Pater,  q.,  29. 

Paul,  c.  or  q.,  40,  116. 

Pausanias,  c,  112. 

Penelope,  77. 

Perfumes,  not  to  be  used,  116. 

Pericles,  anecdote  of,  109-110. 

Peripatetics,  c,  66,  75,  121 -123. 

Persius,  c,  112. 

Peter,  St.,  brother  of  Basil,  34. 

Phaeacians,  107. 

Phaedra,  78. 

^vy6s,  metonymically  used,  71. 

Phidias,  illustration  from  his  Jupiter,  118. 

Philemon,  q.,  92;   biographical  notice  of,  92. 

Philosophy,  relation  of,  to  truth,  26-27;  to  poetry,  27;  place  of, 
in  education,  27 ;  Greek,  employed  by  the  Gnostics,  40 ;  of  Jus- 
tin, analyzed,  41 ;  condemned  by  Tatian,  Hermas,  Theophilus, 
41 ;  esteemed  by  Athenagoras  and  Clement,  41 ;  not  attractive 
to  young  unless  garnished,  49;  poetry  to  be  tempered  by,  51- 
52,  93-96 ;  the  source  of  right  ideas,  93 ;  poetry  fitting-school  for, 
52;    95-96. 

Philoxenus,  q.,  49;   biographical  notice  of,  49. 

Phoenix,  76. 

Phrygian  mode,  see  Mode. 

132 


Index 

Pilot,  simile  of,  89,  iii. 

Pindar,  c.  or  q.,  55,  64,  94. 

Pittacus,  q.,  113;   biographical  notice  of,  113. 

Plato,  his  theory  of  inspiration,  13;  of  imitation,  18-19;  of  the  mis- 
sion of  poetry,  29 ;  received  partial  revelation  of  the  Logos,  41 ; 
c.  and  q.,  17,  18,  19,  22,  26,  27,  28,  29,  40,  41,  50,  51,  54,  55,  56, 
57,  62,  6z,  64,  75,  81,  93,  94,  103,  105,  106,  108,  109,  114,  115, 
116,  121. 

Plato,  Pseudo-,  c,  115. 

Pleasure,  place  of,  in  poetry,  28-31 ;    should  be  merely  a  relish,  49. 

Plot,  more  engaging  than  metre  or  tropes,  52;  one  of  the  six  parts 
of  tragedy,  53 ;  most  essential  element  in  poetry,  53 ;  designed 
to  cause  pleasurable  fear,  55 ;  kinds  of,  y^ ;  must  appear  prob- 
ble,  y^ ;  employs  reversal  of  fortune,  yz  \  conceals  useful  sug- 
gestions, 80. 

Plutarch,  no  judge  of  his  own  work,  13;  his  triteness  and^  prag- 
matism, 14;  his  theory  of  poetry,  13-32;  summary  of  his  work 
by  Professor  Christ,  31-32;  c.  and  q.,  15,  16,  18,  22,  23,  26,  27, 
52,  58,  60,  63,  64,  70,  74,  79,  107,  109,  no,  112,  121-123. 

Plutarch,  Pseudo-,  c,  75,  81,  82,  85. 

Poetry,  how  different  from  prose,  14-18;  the  product  of  both  intel- 
lect and  feeling,  15;  a  gift  to  rare  temperaments,  16;  nature  of 
lyric,  16;  relation  of,  to  music,  17;  to  philosophy,  17;  to  nature 
and  to  truth,  18-28;  is  vocal  painting,  21,  58;  an  imitative  art, 
20,  21,  58;  imitates  men  as  they  ought  to  be,  20;  deception  in, 
24-25 ;  Plutarch's  unrestricted  use  of  the  term,  27-28 ;  relatively 
independent  of  truth,  27;  traditional  view  of  its  mission,  28; 
Plato's  theory  of  its  mission,  29;  Aristotle's  theory,  30;  Plu- 
tarch's theory,  30-31;  place  of  pleasure  in,  28-30;  both  helpful 
and  injurious,  50;  to  be  tempered  by  philosophy,  51-52,  93-96; 
the  fitting-school  for  philosophy,  52,  95-96;  deceptive  juggling 
of,  54;  should  embody  commendation  and  condemnation  of 
words  and  acts,  61-62;  themes  of,  to  be  taken  from  men  of 
understanding,  63;  contradictions  in,  modify  its  influence,  63- 
64;  must  employ  probable  plots,  y2',  uses  variety  and  transi- 
tions, y:i ;  defined,  74 ;  to  be  accepted  in  proportion  to  its  moral 
soundness,  78,  104,  in;  may  teach  virtue,  nobility,  wisdom,  and 
self-control,  83-86,  106;  carefully  studied  teaches  equanimity 
and  magnanimity,  92. 

Poliager,  yy. 

Polycletus,  illustration  from  his  Juno,  118;  biographical  notice  of, 
118. 

Polydamas,  anecdote  of,  112;   biographical  notice  of,  112. 

Polypus,  good  to  eat,  but  causes  bad  dreams,  50;  changeable  colors 
of,  119; 

133 


Index 

Pontus,  seat  of  Basil's  monastery,  35. 

Pope,  deaf  to  Basil's  requests,  38. 

Udwoi,  a  philological  illustration,  67. 

Porphyria  (Schrader),  c,  62,  63,  69,  70,  81. 

Porphyry,  c,  115,  116. 

Poseidon,  54,  86. 

Poverty,  honest,  no  disgrace,  70. 

Priam,  84. 

Probability,  importance  of,  in  plot,  24-25,  53;  universality  condi- 
tioned upon  it,  53. 

Prodicus,  q.,  108. 

Prometheus,  70. 

Prose,  see  Poetry. 

Proserpine,  69. 

Proteus,  118. 

Pythagoras,  received  partial  revelation  of  the  Logos,  41 ;  anecdote 
of,  115;    c.  and  q.,  93,  in,  116. 

Pythian  Priestess,  subject  to  education,  17. 

Pythius,  biographical  notice  of,  118. 

Races,  characteristics  of  different,  81-83. 

Reversal  of  Fortune,  in  plot,  defined,  73. 

Rhetoricians,  to  be  read  discriminatingly,  105. 

Rhythm,  function  of,  in  art,  19. 

Riches,  conflicting  sentiments  concerning,  64,  65;  useless  without 
virtue,  94;  happiness  does  not  consist  in,  95;  of  nature,  limited, 
95 ;  earthly,  inferior  to  heavenly,  102 ;  opinions  of  philosophers 
upon,  117-118. 

I?ty€8av6s,  philologically  considered,  67. 

Roses,  simile  of,  105. 

Sabellianism,  warring  faction  in  the  church,  37. 

Saintsbury,  c,  29,  62. 

Sappho,  invented  mixed  Lydian  mode,  74. 

Sardanapalus,  idleness  of,  113;    biographical  notice  of,  113. 

Schlemm,  c,  62,  66,  75,  121-123. 

Scriptures,  taught  Basil  by  mother  and  grandmother,  33)  perfect 
revelation  of  truth,  39;  interpreted  allegorically  by  Gnostics, 
40 ;  only  source  of  truth,  41 ;  have  much  in  common  with  Greek 
philosophy,  42-43;  conduct  to  the  divine  life,  103;  need  mature 
students,  103 ;  classics  prepare  one  for  study  of,  103 ;  compared 
with  classics,  103-104;  c.  and  q.,  102,  104,  no,  in,  113,  ii5> 
117,  119. 

Self-control,  may  be  learned  from  poetry,  84,  86,  87,  no. 

Seneca,  c,  85. 

134 


Index 

Ship,  simile  of,  102,  iii. 

Sickness,  three  kinds  of,  described,  120. 

Silanion,  c.,  22,  59. 

Simonides,  c.  or  q.,  51,  58,  113;    biographical  notice  of,  50. 

Sisyphus,  23,  59. 

Skill,  in  art,  defined,  17. 

Socrates,  could  not  invent  plots,  53;    anecdote  of,  no;    c,  57,  65, 

88,  118. 
Solon,  received  partial   revelation  of  the  Logos,  41 ;    biographical 

notice  of,  107;   q.,  107,  117. 
Sophistry,  condemned,  78. 
Sophocles,  q.,  16,  56,  64,  65,  66,  69,  70,  88. 

Soul,  care  of,  the  supreme  interest,  114;   purity  of,  defined,  115. 
Stage,  simile  of,  109. 
Sthenelus,  80. 
Stobaeus,  c,  71. 

Stoics,  c,  66,  85,  91 ;  vice,  how  treated  by,  73. 
Sun,  simile  of,  95,  103,  105. 

Tatian,  attitude  of,  toward  philosophy,  41. 

Telemachus,  85. 

Theodorus,  his  imitation  of  sound  of  pulleys,  22,  59. 

Theognis,  not  really  a  poet,  14,  54;  biographical  notice  of,  54;  c. 
and  p.,  66,  107,  117. 

Theon,  his  picture  of  Orestes,  21,  58;   biographical  notice  of,  58. 

Theophilus,  attitude  of,  toward  philosophy,  41. 

Theophrastus,  his  discussion  of  music,  15. 

Theosophy,  a  result  of  Gnosticism,  40. 

Thersites,  face  of,  in  art,  21 ;  representations  of,  how  praiseworthy, 
23,  59,  80,  82. 

Theseus,  78. 

Thespis,  q.,  94;    biographical  notice  of,  94. 

Thessalians,  stupidity  of,  51. 

Thetis,  55,  88. 

Qod^eiv,  meaning  of,  considered,  68. 

Timotheus,  the  statuary,  picture  of  Medea  by,  21,  58;  biographical 
notice  of,  58. 

Timotheus,  the  dithyrambic  poet,  anecdote  of,  66;  biographical 
notice  of,  66;    c,  87. 

Timotheus,  the  flute-player  of  Thebes,  anecdote  of,  112;  biographi- 
cal notice  of,  112. 

Tithonus,  old  age  of,  119;   biographical  notice  of,  119. 

Tragedy,  defined,  53 ;  parts  of,  53 ;  employs  the  mixed  Lydian  mode, 

74. 
Tree,  simile  of,  103. 

135 


Index 

Trojans,  compared  with  Greeks,  80-83. 

Truth,  relation  of,  to  poetry,  18-28,  95;  to  philosophy,  25-26;  per- 
fectly revealed  in  Scriptures,  39;  partially  expressed  in  Greek 
literature,  39 ;  its  severity  not  attractive  in  poetry,  52 ;  not  to  be 
confounded  with  artistic  excellence,  59 ;  to  be  the  guide  of  life, 
118. 

Ueherweg,  analysis  of  Clement's  philosophy  by,  42-43. 
Useful,  the,  how  gained  from  suspicious  passages,  88. 

Valens,  the  emperor,  Arianism  supported  by,  37. 

Vergil,  c,  119. 

Verrall,  q.,  87. 

Vice,  how  treated  by  Homer  and  Euripides,  y^;  how  by  the  Stoics, 
72))   episode  of,  108. 

Villemain,  q.,  36. 

Vine,  simile  of,  80,  116. 

Virtue,  how  treated  by  Homer  and  Euripides,  yz ;  how  by  the  Stoics, 
yz ;  may  be  learned  from  poetry,  83,  106 ;  product  of  reason  and 
education,  87;  quotations  extolling,  94;  should  become  a  habit, 
106;  all  poetry  of  Homer  praises,  106;  the  only  sure  posses- 
sion, 107;  episode  of,  108;  extolled  by  writers  upon  wisdom, 
108;  a  sufficient  ornament,  118;  silhouette  of,  in  pagan  authors, 
119. 

Wace  and  S chaff,  c,  loi. 

Water,  should  be  mixed  with  wine,  51. 

Wisdom,  may  be  learned  from  poetry,  86;   writers  on,  praise  virtue, 

108. 
Words,  meanings  of,  to  be  carefully  determined,  67-72. 
Wordsworth,  no  judge  of  his  own  work,  13. 
Wyttenbach,  c,  94. 

Xenophanes,  q.,  57;   biographical  notice  of,  57. 
Xenophon,  c.  or  q.,  29,  84,  108. 

Youth,  an  impressionable  period,  106. 

Zeller,  c,  91. 

Zeno,  c.  or  q.,  71,  85,  88. 

ZeiJs,  meanings  of,  considered,  69-70,  85. 

Zeus,  54,  55,  62,  62,  69,  70,  71,  74,  80,  84,  85,  86,  87,  93,  122,  123. 


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